Editing Orson Welles (section)

=== ''The Lady from Shanghai'' ===
{{Main|The Lady from Shanghai}}

[[File:Welles-Wilson-Hayworth-Lady-from-Shanghai.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|Welles, associate producer [[Richard Wilson (director)|Richard Wilson]] and Rita Hayworth confer on the set of ''[[The Lady from Shanghai]]'' (1947)]]

The film that Welles was obliged to make in exchange for [[Harry Cohn]]'s help in financing the stage production ''[[Around the World (musical)|Around the World]]'' was ''[[The Lady from Shanghai]]'', filmed in 1947 for [[Columbia Pictures]]. Welles intended it to be a modest thriller, but the budget skyrocketed after Cohn suggested that Welles's then-estranged wife [[Rita Hayworth]] star.

Cohn disliked Welles's [[rough cut]], particularly the confusing plot and lack of close-ups, and was not in sympathy with Welles's [[Brechtian]] use of irony and [[black comedy]], especially in a farcical courtroom scene. Cohn ordered extensive editing and re-shoots. After heavy editing by the studio, approximately one hour of Welles's first cut was removed, including much of a climactic confrontation scene in an amusement park funhouse. While expressing displeasure at the cuts, Welles was particularly appalled with the score. The film was considered a disaster in America when released, though the closing shootout in a hall of mirrors (the use of mirrors being a recurrent motif of Welles's, starting with ''Kane'') has become a touchstone of [[film noir]]. Not long after release, Welles and Hayworth finalized their divorce.

Although ''The Lady from Shanghai'' was acclaimed in Europe, it was not embraced until decades later in the U.S., where it is now regarded as a classic of film noir.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-lady-from-shanghai/Film?oid=2552830|title=The Lady From Shanghai|last=Kehr|first=Dave|website=Chicago Reader|date=November 22, 1985 |access-date=March 16, 2018|archive-date=March 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316151825/https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-lady-from-shanghai/Film?oid=2552830|url-status=live}}</ref>