in nyc and seaman michael ohara ( orson welles ) rescue elsa bannister ( rita hayworth ) from a mugging and rape a she take a horse and carriage through central park and live to regret it . titian haired hayworth a platinum blonde in this one while as dazzle a fresh fall snow but nowhere near a pure . to reveal any more of the convoluted plot in this seminal noir would be criminal . it as deceptive a the mirror use to cataclysmic effect in the final scene but the film hold far dark secret represent from the ny time represent childhood shadow represent the hidden story of the black dahlia murder by mary pacios mary pacios and who be 5 year old when she be befriend by 15 year old bette short and retraces short step and interview friend and associate . she also offer a detailed and if speculative and analysis of orson welles particularly in regard to his movie the lady from shanghai . accord to ms. pacios and the movie and along with related archival material and have many of the same ritualistic element associate with short murder . she raise the question represent could welles have be the killer . interesting theory and with the spate of book now out on the black dahlia and much more may come to light . fritz lang brutal film noir and the big heat ( 1953 ) and be a roman a clef telling of the dahlia kill in the city of net that be l. a. but it the orson opus that the dahlia have a hand on connection to . in reality and it be bugsy siegel ( and the hollywood mob war of the 1940 ) that do the dahlia in . but that doesn not negate much of what pacios write . almost all of hollywood intersect with elizabeth ( the black dahlia ) short and her tale or aura or legacy or curse be encode in a number of golden age film . the black dahlia be always on the peripheral edge of shanghai even before it start film . barbara payton on franchot tone represent it be when he be think about make the lady from shanghai and before he lose the option to orson welles . franchot say he would be in a bad state over that deal when he run into the dahlia in the formosa cafe across from the goldwyn studio . the floor above the formosa cafe be bugsy siegel office and the dahlia one of his on again or off again work girl . it get deep and darker after the 1951 brawl over barbara payton between tom neal and franchot tone that send franchot to the hospital with a concussion and never talk the same way again and barbara say and she marry tone just to spite neal . tom ( detour ) neal also know the dahlia ( who do not . ) and become obsess from l. a. despair by john gilmore represent the january 1947 slaying of the young and beautiful would be actress elizabeth short and know a the black dahlia and be one of the most grisly murder in the annals of modern crime . a project and call who kill the black dahlia . be be kick off by actor tom neal and a hell raiser from ww ii movie . potential producer gene harris represent someone will have to come up with a more imaginative business proposition than what have be present by tom neal and his cohort . not long after represent it would be very clear one beautiful day to come and when tom would sneak up on his pretty and new palm spring wife a she lay on their sofa and shoot a . 45 bullet through her head . barbara payton and norma jean dougherty ( later marilyn monroe ) know the dahlia and their story be well know . it seem all who cross the path of the dahlia ( like the proverbial black cat ) enter a twilight zone darkness and or or have an incredible string of bad luck afterward . tone or neal or welles be only a few and this include a butchered film call the lady from shanghai . lady from shanghai take two year to be release and thanks to extensive re edit and all because columbia president harry cohn couldn not understand the story . it dark noir to be sure one of the dark and in fact . it also a wicked satire on life in the new atomic age . nicolas christopher representshanghai push forth an insistent subtext of nuclear apocalypse and contain the definitive noir statement concern the atomic bomb and the american city . the film principal murder victim ( and there be many ) and a psychotic and double deal lawyer and manically foresees armageddon at every turn and claim he can feel it . he announce that he plan to escape to a remote pacific island a particularly acid joke on welles part since this be the very year the u. s. begin test atomic bomb at just such a place and the bikini atoll and relocate all the inhabitant and destroy the ecosystem . by the time of bikini and the erotic identification of hayworth with the bomb appear to have be institutionalize and with the blessing of the military brass while the first bomb drop in the pacific test ground in name gilda and have hayworth image and in provocative dress and paint directly on it casing . it ironic that orson welles broad interpretation of an irishman be consider a detriment to the film by many . welles be give a clue to viewer that michael ohara be only the storyteller not part of the story even though it revolve around him . ohara contradict the shark motif throughout the film . shark on a feeding frenzy would not stop until there nothing leave . michael ohara life to tell the tale . elsa bannister cause a feeding frenzy during ohara trial and her netted chapeau suggest she cage in so a not to devour the human spectator to a roman coleseum . the spectator be on a feeding frenzy of their own and gossiping and carry on about elsa a human aquarium correlate to the san francisco marine museum sequence . that the human condition . except for michael ohara . and yet he will be spend his life try to forget his past ( elsa ) or die try . elsa be part of michael and the tale eat it own tail in the end and the viewer be caution to stay out of trouble .