Directed by Orson Welles • 1955 • United States
Starring Orson Welles, Paola Mori, Robert Arden
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. This cut is believed to be the cut finished by producer Louis Dolivet after he barred Welles from the editing room. Although it alters the flashback structure and the title that Welles later claimed to have preferred, it does have the best picture quality of all the versions, and also contains some scenes not included in any of the others.
Up Next in The Complete Mr. Arkadin
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MR. ARKADIN: The Comprehensive Version
Directed by Orson Welles • 1955 • United States
Starring Orson Welles, Paola Mori, Robert ArdenOrson 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 ...
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MR. ARKADIN Commentary
Recorded exclusively for The Criterion Collection, in 2005, this commentary features Jonathan Rosenbaum, film critic for The Chicago Reader and author of Discovering Orson Welles, and James Naremore, author of The Magic World of Orson Welles (1989).
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On the Comprehensive Version of MR. A...
In the following documentary, produced in 2006, film historians and archivists Stefan Drössler and Claude Bertemes discuss the principles behind the creation of a new, unique version of MR. ARKADIN. Director and Orson Welles confidant Peter Bogdanovich shares his understanding of Welles’s intenti...
