Baffling murders, unexpected plot twists and remarkable camera work all contribute to Orson Welles' spellbinding, time-honoured film noir about an innocent man drawn into a dangerous web of intrigue, murder and femme fatales.

When Irish seaman Michael O’Hara (Welles) against his better judgement, hires on as a crew member on Arthur Bannister's (Everett Sloane) yacht, whilst sailing to San Francisco they pick up Grisby, Bannister's law partner, enroute. Bannister has a beautiful wife, Rosalie (Rita Hayworth), who upon meeting Michael seems to like him much more than she likes her husband. After docking in Sausalito, Michael goes along with Grisby's strange plan to fake his own murder so he can disappear un-tailed, tempted as he is by $5000 Grisby has offered which would enable him to enact is own plan to run off with Rosalie. But when Grisby subsequently turns up murdered for real, Michael finds himself shouldering the blame. Is he the victim of a set up? Quite possibly. But if so, how and by whom remains tantalisingly unclear.

Famously difficult to follow (studio boss Harry Cohn reputedly offered a prize to anyone that could explain the plot to him), the film was subject to great controversy and scandal upon initial release - shocking 1948 audiences by presenting Hayworth (whom Welles was married to at the time) with her flaming red hair cut short and dyed champagne blonde. Fifty years on it is seen as vintage Welles; its famous hall of mirrors climax held up as one of the greatest scenes in cinematic history.

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