Orson Welles

The Complete Mr. Arkadin

The Complete Mr. Arkadin

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. The Criterion Collection gathered all of these elements to create this landmark box set—which also includes outtakes, behind-the-scenes footage, and a comprehensive version of the film—at last unraveling one of cinema’s great mysteries.

Film Info

  • France, Spain, Switzerland
  • 1955
  • 105 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.33:1
  • English
  • Spine #322

Special Features

  • Restored high-definition digital masters of three versions of the film: the Corinth version, Confidential Report, and a comprehensive version
  • Audio commentary by Orson Welles scholars Jonathan Rosenbaum and James Naremore
  • An interview with Welles biographer Simon Callow, featuring his audio interview with actor 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 historians Stefan Drössler and Claude Bertemes and Welles confidant Peter Bogdanovich
  • Outtakes, rushes, and alternate scenes from the film
  • Extensive stills gallery
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by J. Hoberman

    Cover by Lucien S. Y. Yang

Purchase Options

Special Features

  • Restored high-definition digital masters of three versions of the film: the Corinth version, Confidential Report, and a comprehensive version
  • Audio commentary by Orson Welles scholars Jonathan Rosenbaum and James Naremore
  • An interview with Welles biographer Simon Callow, featuring his audio interview with actor 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 historians Stefan Drössler and Claude Bertemes and Welles confidant Peter Bogdanovich
  • Outtakes, rushes, and alternate scenes from the film
  • Extensive stills gallery
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by J. Hoberman

    Cover by Lucien S. Y. Yang
The Complete Mr. Arkadin
Cast
Orson Welles
Gregory Arkadin
Paola Mori
Raina Arkadin
Robert Arden
Guy van Stratten
Patricia Medina
Mily
Akim Tamiroff
Jakob Zouk
Grégoire Aslan
Bracco
Jack Watling
Bob, the Marquis of Rutleigh
Mischa Auer
The professor
Peter Van Eyck
Tadeus
Michael Redgrave
Bergomil Trebitsch
Suzanne Flon
Baroness Nagel
Frédéric O’Brady
Oskar
Katina Paxinou
Sophie
Tamara Shayne
Woman in apartment
Credits
Director
Orson Welles
Original story
Orson Welles
Screenplay
Orson Welles
Producer
Jean Bourgoin
Music
Paul Misraki
Executive producer
Louis Dolivet

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