Welles Amazed: The Lives of Mr. Arkadin
By April 17, 2006
Another movie, another cause célèbre: Orson Welles’s Mr. Arkadin has been dismissed as a disaster and hailed as a masterpiece. In 1958, Cahiers du cinéma Read more »
- United States
- 1955
- 105 minutes
- Black and White
- 1.33:1
- English
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 & CreditsOpen
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
