this be the 2nd time i have see this movie in about 12 year . these remark come from someone who find kane and ambersons to be amazing and worthy film . but the remainder of welles career be and unfortunately and squander on material unworthy of his talent and too flimsy to withstand his filmic embroidering . and when he make a potboiler like shanghai and the lack of anything substantial to hang his filmic trick on and be just kind of sad . i couldn not tell you what he be explore here . it all as mannered a welle godawful irish brogue while which take a lot of effort and but add absolutely zero to the film . several welles project become this overdeveloped and baroque . mr arkadin ( pick a version and any version ) be a similarly belabor project . the material be inconsequential . it just can not bear the weight of all this noodling . for a director trafficking in reality base drama ( a here ) and he never feel any pull to tie his bundle of conceit back to reality while or to a coherent story . the murder for hire scheme be ridiculous . kudos to welles though and for have hayworth cut her hair and and get that performance out of her . the camera love her . she the classiest and most upscale and sultry and ravish femme fatale ever put on film . but her treachery come so late in the film it feel like some desperate decision and make so the movie will have some genre it fit into . the movie can not be save by a noir convention deploy in the last 60 second . when all be say and do in l. f. s. and the convolution be all for what . while to convince you you have see something thoughtful . to give welles more to do . to make you roll your eye . welles have no sensitivity to the scale of a story and or to tell a story directly . one wonder what shanghai have to say to anyone who isn not a cripple billionaire and arrange a quadruple cross murder for hire scheme and or a fanboy in love with filmic conceit devoid of meaning or substance . overwrought and preposterous and unengaging .