The Complete Mr. Arkadin (1955) - The Criterion Collection

Synopsis

Orson Welles’s Mr. Arkadin (a.k.a. Confidential Report) tells the story of an elusive billionaire who hires an American smuggler to investigate his past, leading to a dizzying descent into a cold-war European landscape. The film’s history is also marked by this vertigo. There are at least eight Mr. Arkadins: three radio plays, a novel, several long-lost cuts, and the controversial European release known as Confidential Report. Criterion gathered all of these elements to create this landmark box set—which also includes outtakes, behind-the-scenes footage, and a new comprehensive version of the film—at last unraveling one of cinema’s great mysteries.

Cast

Gregory Arkadin	Orson Welles
Raina Arkadin	Paola Mori
Guy van Stratten	Robert Arden
Mily	Patricia Medina
Jakob Zouk	Akim Tamiroff
Bracco	Grégoire Aslan
Bob, the Marquis of Rutleigh	Jack Watling
The professor	Mischa Auer
Tadeus	Peter Van Eyck
Bergomil Trebitsch	Michael Redgrave
Baroness Nagel	Suzanne Flon
Oskar	Frédéric O’Brady
Sophie	Katina Paxinou
Woman in apartment	Tamara Shayne

Credits

Director	Orson Welles
Original story	Orson Welles
Screenplay	Orson Welles
Producer	Jean Bourgoin
Music	Paul Misraki
Executive producer	Louis Dolivet

Disc Features

SPECIAL EDITION THREE-DISC SET:

New, restored high-definition digital transfers of three versions of the film: the Corinth Verion, Confidential Report, and a new comprehensive version
Audio commentary by scholars Jonathan Rosenbaum and James Naremore
An interview with Welles biographer Simon Callow, featuring his audio interview with star Robert Arden
Three half-hour episodes of the radio program The Lives of Harry Lime, upon which the film is based, and an interview with producer Harry Alan Towers
On the Comprehensive Version, a new documentary featuring interviews with film historian Stefan Drössler and Claude Bertemes and Welles confidant Bogdanovich
Outtakes, rushes, and alternate scenes from the film
Extensive stills gallery
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: Mr. Arkadin, the novel, with a new preface by Robert Polito, and a booklet featuring J. Hoberman, Rosenbaum, film historian François Thomas, and Drössler on the three versions; and a time line of Arkadin-related events

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