“I fucked around on everyone.” In which Orson and Rita Hayworth, who were separated, were reunited to make The Lady from Shanghai. He recalls that she stuck by him when he tried to leave Hollywood to do good works. * * * HENRY JAGLOM: Rita worked for Harry Cohn at Columbia, didn’t she? ORSON WELLES: Yes, he thought he was a great lover. He chased Rita around the desk all the years she was there. She was always going on suspension. HJ: I just saw Lady from Shanghai again. She’s so good in it. OW: Are you kidding? She was magnificent! And she thought she wasn’t. And nobody in the town would give her any credit for it. HJ: It makes you realize what a waste her career was. OW: She was a really talented actress who never got a chance. HJ: They say that you ruined her in that film. Cut off her famous red locks, dyed what was left blond without telling Harry Cohn. OW: Yes, that was supposed to be my vengeance on her for leaving me. I made her character a killer and cut off her hair, and all that.
