The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

Rita Hayworth: Elsa Bannister

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Elsa Bannister : I told you, you know nothing about wickedness.

• Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : I don't know how to shoot.

  Michael O'Hara : It's easy. You just pull the trigger.

• Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : I was taught to think about love in Chinese.

  Michael O'Hara : The way a Frenchman thinks about laughter in French?

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : The Chinese say, it is difficult for love to last long; therefore, one who loves passionately is cured of love - in the end.

  Michael O'Hara : Well, that's a hard way of thinkin'.

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : There's more to the proverb. Human nature is eternal; therefore, one who follows his nature, keeps his original nature - in the end.

• Michael O'Hara : "One who follows his nature keeps his original nature in the end." But, haven't you heard ever of somethin' better to follow?

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : No.

• Michael O'Hara : Like the sharks, mad with their own blood, chewin' away at their own selves.

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : It's true. I made a lot of mistakes.

• Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : You need more than luck in Shanghai.

• Michael O'Hara : You were smart to carry a gun traveling alone in the park, but I knew you had the gun in your bag. Why throw away the bag?

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : I meant you to find it. I don't know how to shoot.

  Michael O'Hara : It's easy, you just pull the trigger.

• Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : Tell me, Michael. Is there some reason the police don't like you?

  Michael O'Hara : Well, they never put me in jail in America. You know, the nicest jails in the world are in Australia, the worst in Spain.

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : What law did you break in Spain?

  Michael O'Hara : I killed a man.

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : Just now, you almost killed a girl.

  Michael O'Hara : Is there a law against that?

• Michael O'Hara : Would Your Highness care to gamble?

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : Gamble? She's done it for a living.

• Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : If you're a sailor, Michael, there's a job for you. Would you like to work for me? I'd like it.

  Michael O'Hara : I'm shippin' out tomorrow.

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : So are we! To the West Coast, by way of the canal. We're short a man on the crew. I'll make it worth your while.

• Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : I wasn't sure you'd come.

  Michael O'Hara : I'm not stayin'.

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : You've *got* to stay!

• Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : Will you help me? Give me a cigarette. I'm learning to smoke now.

• Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : [singing]  Please don't hold me, But if you hold me, Don't take your arms, Away, Comes a change in weather, Comes a change of heart, And who knows when the rain, Will start?

• Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : I haven't a cent, Michael. He wants to cut me off without a cent.

  Michael O'Hara : Does that matter so much as if he would?

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : Oh, I told you sweet, you don't know anything about the world.

  Michael O'Hara : Well, lately I've been roundin' out my education.

• Arthur Bannister : I don't mind a bit if Michael's in love with my wife. He's young. She's young. He's strong. She's beautiful.

  [Elsa gets up to leave] 

  Arthur Bannister : Come on, darling, where's your sense of humor?

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : I don't have to listen to you talk like that.

  Arthur Bannister : Oh, yes, you do, lover.

• Arthur Bannister : Why doesn't Michael want to work for us?

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : Why should he? Why should anyone want to live around us?

  Arthur Bannister : Where's his sense of adventure?

• Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : Everything is bad, Michael. Everything. You can't escape it or fight it. You've got to get along with it! Deal with it. Make terms.

• Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : I don't care where it is, Michael. Just take me there. Take me, quick. Take me!

• Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : There's more to it than that, Michael. I don't know what; but, there's more. It's a trap of some kind.

• Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : Oh, Michael, why did you let yourself get dragged into it?

  Michael O'Hara : Sure, because I'm a fool. A deliberate intention, a fool. That's the worst kind. Or, did you know?

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : Yes, my beloved. My beloved fool. I know.

• Arthur Bannister : He's going to have to trust me.

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : But you, do you trust him?

  Arthur Bannister : I wouldn't trust him with my wife.

• Michael O'Hara : He said the world was bad. We can't run away from the badness. And you're right there. But, she said we can't fight it, we must deal with the badness. Make terms. And didn't the badness deal with you and make its own terms in the end? Surely?

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : You can fight. But, what good is it?

• Michael O'Hara : You mean we can't win?

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : No, we can't win. Give my love to the sunrise.

  Michael O'Hara : Well, we can't lose either. Only if we quit.

• Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : You're scared, aren't you? You're scared! I'm scared too!

  Michael O'Hara : You think you needed me to help ya. You're not that kind... If you need anything, you help yourself.

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : I'm not what you think I am. I just try to be like that.

  Michael O'Hara : Keep on tryin'. You might make it.

  Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : Oh, Michael. What are we scared of?

• Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : You're such a foolish knight errant, Michael. You're big and strong. You just don't know how to take care of yourself. So, how could you take care of me?

• Mrs. Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister : [Lying on the floor dying]  Give my love to the sunrise.