What a disapointment. To use Edwin's catchphrase, I was really jazzed up to see "The Comprehensive Version" of Mr. Arkadin, one of Orson Welles' hardest to find films. After all the effort, and years of waiting, this hardcore Welles fan discoverd out that its the director's worst movie.
A "comprehensive", restored version of the film was long overdue. After he completed shooting the film, Welles (as was sadly often the case during his lifetime) was taken of the production and it was edited by others. Making the matter more confusing is that no less than five (you read that right) different versions of the film existsed. The restorers did their best to cut the film to Welles' wishes, but this was made problematic by the fact that he left no detailed written information about how the movie should edited, unlike Touch of Evil. The Critierian DVD freely admits that this cut of the film is a "best guess" and nothing more.
Having seen none of the other versions, I can't compare it, but the movie is extreamly disjointed and confusing. Guy Van Stratten (Robert Arden) is a low-grade smuggler of illegal cigrattes in Italy when a man is shot by the police gives him the names of Spanish mult-millionare Gregory Arkadin (Welles) and a woman, Sophie (Katrina Paxinou). Van Stratten has no idea what the signifigance of the names are to the dead man, but he is strangley motivated to find out. He tracks down Arkadin's daughter Raina (Paola Mori), and she leads him to her father. Surprisingly, Arkadin doesn't mind the intrusian and gives Van Stratten a most unique job- to track down his own past, as he suffers from amnesia and can't remember how he made his fortune. The rest film follows Van Stratten following one lead after the other in an attempt to get at the truth, much like the reporter in Citizen Kane.
There are lots of problems with the movie. The sound and dubbing is even worse than Othello and is very distracting. Although the restorers have done a valliant job, the movie's parts still don't fit together, some scenes are unnecessary and redundant while others don't explain enough. The movie is very, very hard to follow (I put it on a second time while writing this review and it's a little less confusing, but I still don't understand everything). The acting, which is almost a highlight in Welles movies, is poor. Arden is a weak lead and he and most of the rest of the cast come off as b-movie actors with shallow characterizations (although I did like Suzanne Flon in a small supporting role). This makes Welles look like he's overacting by comparison. Finally, the movie is just not very interesting after a while. The premise of the movie is certainly interesting but low-budget and editorial problem keep it from being so. Welles maniacs will want to check it out, but it's a minor work that is best left forgotten.
Mr. Arkadin (1955)