Orson Welles produces and leads this good noir, alongside his then wife Rita Hayworth, which has garnered classic status although being far from great.

Welles plays an Irish sailor named Michael O’Hara who after becoming infatuated with Elsa (Rita Hayworth) will pick up on a job offer to work at the yacht of Elsa’s husband, famed criminal lawyer Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane). During his time there, his love for Elsa will grow stronger just like his desire to escape with her, a desire that might become true if he accepts a strange offer by Bannister’s partner George Grisby (played by Glenn Anders).

If we look only at its technical prowess, the film clearly deserves its praises and references as masterpiece, both its editing and cinematography are of the highest calibre. Beginning and end is when the editing process is most noticeable, first with a sequence at the yacht clearly inspired by the Soviet montage theory and obviously reminiscing of Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin (1925), and later on with the climactic and iconic sequence of the mirrors, where cutting and image juxtaposition elevate the action and emotion of the scene. On the other hand, the bulk of the visual weight of the film relies much more on its photography, presenting all the usuals in Welles repertoire such as the use of chiaroscuro, medium shots, track shots, and weird angles.

But all this technical mastery is not sustained equally by its story nor its performances. When it comes to the plot, we could say that the true film does not start until very well thirty minutes into the movie, which it means that (for a movie that lasts an hour and a half) the entire initial third is basically unsubstantial. Sure, it is when we get to know the characters but, besides fulfilling this basic purpose, it does not provide for much anything else. Luckily when Welles and Anders get together and the former receives the “business” proposal from the latter, the film provides for a clearer and much more interesting plot-driving element to which the audience can hold to and start asking himself questions on the motives of the offer and what will our main character do.

This is also grounded on the fact that out of the four main characters, the most engaging two are precisely Michael and Mr. Grisby which basically together make for the most interesting scenes. Alongside them we could maybe put Sloane’s portrayal of Mr. Bannister since, although having a lesser amount of relevant screen time, he absolutely kills when he has the spotlight on him, including a quite hilarious scene in court that could very well be a precursor to the one that Woody Allen would perform 24 years later in Bananas.

Instead, and very much unfortunately because she should be the one key aspect that makes us sympathise with Welles and his actions as she is the reason behind them, Rita Hayworth does not provide for much emotion nor empathy. Sure, she is beautiful, but she is not more beautiful than she already is. The only thing that she does throughout the film is to force herself to have teary eyes, through which it seems we should feel empathy for her and for her, her situation, and more else fell in love with her. But it is way too simple, basing an entire performance to this tiny detail will not cut it out.

This is after all a good movie if we considered the technicalities around its making, the ever-sensational presence of Welles, and his good chemistry on-screen with not Hayworth but Anders. But, to reach classic status it might be too far-fetched, after all the story is rather weak with a very predictable ending and with quite a disappointing (supposedly) femme-fatale, elements in which all great film noirs are always indebted too.