The Seven Arkadins

[Jeff Wilson]

Arden's performance doesn't bother me as much as it does some, because I think he's supposed to be a complete loser. Is it maybe that we're conditioned by expectations of what a leading man should be, that we mistake Arden's performance for something that it isn't? Just a thought.

[colwood]

Macresarf1,

Yes welcome indeed. Your review at Epinions was very thorough and, though I have yet to see any version of CR/MA, after reading your review I am now very inclined to. As you saw a version that may never be seen again, let me ask you, of the released versions that were mentioned earlier in this thread, which might you say is the closest to what your saw? Is there a version that is somewhat close to what you saw in 1955?

[Mr Clay]

Macresarf1,
Thanks for info on Journey into Fear. Your review of Mr Arkadin on Epinions was a fascinating glimpse into the lost world of Orson's last cut. Can't help wondering if that version resides in some dusty film library somewhere in the London suburbs.
I agree with Jeff about the fim playing with expectations of what a leading man is supposed to be - again shades of what Godard would be doing a decade later. On further viewings, Robert Arden comes across as an effective kind of Punk character, notwithstanding the 'jarring shifts of tone' resulting from the producer's cuts - something that was indeed incredibly jarring on first viewing.

[jaime marzol]

mascresarf, fascinating, thanks for the link.

mr clay, 3 party stories? are you sure about this? the scorpion and frog, the cemetery, what is the third?

[Dylan S]

Hello,

I thought some readers here would be interested in this. The website DVDBeaver.com has posted a side-by-side graphics comparison between the poor US DVD "Mr. Arkadin" and the new R2 DVD of "Confidential Report." Gives a chance for those who have not seen it yet (such as myself) a glimpse of it's visual splendor.

http://207.136.67.23/film/dvdcompare/arkadin.htm

Dylan

[TheMcGuffin]

Does anyone know where i can buy a copy of the Bagdonovich version of Mr. Arkadin. I know its by Corith Film, but I can't find it. I looked through amazon with no luck.

Rob

[TheMcGuffin]

Also, a couple of people have posted how Arkadin helped inspire the french new wave. I was wondering if anyone knows where in print this is stated. I ask because i am doing a psuedo-documentary on the French New Wave for a final in of of my film classes and i would love to through in this fact in there somewhere, but i know if i put it in I have to cite it. My professor knows i am a huge welles fan and she is going to know where i cited this piece of info.

Rob

[Mr Clay]

There's a longish and excellent essay by Truffaut on Arkadin, which I read in a cinema bookshop in Paris (and also saw the two huge French books on Welles that have been mentioned on the board) - can't remember the book's title, but it's basically a collection of Truffaut's writing on his favourite movies and directors. He talks about what is stunning in Arkadin as well as the abrasive, er, difficulties of the film.

[maxrael]

Sadly can't find the corinth version available commercially...

closest i came was this page for corinth films where tv channels can license it:

http://www.nvo.com/corinth....&UID=77

The front page says:

The end result of our search for the best in programming content and quality is the satisfaction that we deliver a good product. This can be seen in the DVD versions of these film classics recently released by our licensee, Image Entertainment, which has enabled them to provide their customers with the best quality versions possible under current technology.

http://www.nvo.com/corinthfilms/door/

Their website is at:
http://www.image-entertainment.com/

a search on welles reveals they do the Around The World with Orson Welles and Working With Orson Welles DVDs, but sadly no Arkadin yet... i'm guessing with the number of Arkadins currently available they won't exactly be swamped with orders for a new version...

apparently image-entertainment sell direct to the public via dvdplanet.com... searching there for Arkadin reveals only the crappy region 1 release with the Tony Curtis intro...

[Jeff Wilson]

If you contact Corinth directly, they should be able to sell you a custom made dupe of their copy of Arkadin.

[TheMcGuffin]

Jeff....thanks for the suggestion. I'll definatly do that.

Mr Clay...I think the book you are talkin about is "The Films in My Life." Truffuat has 3 good lenght essays on Welles Films (Citizen Kane, Confidential Report and Touch of Evil). They are well written and very insightful being both criticiques of films and brief overviews of the productions (or production mishaps) for each film. Unfortunatly, there is no metion of Arkadin being a direct influence to the French New Wave. It is interestingly stated that because of WWII the French public did not see Kane until 1946.

Rob

[TheMcGuffin]

Ok i just e-mailed Corinth Films about their cut of Mr. Arkadin....now i have a question about running times.

Corinth lists their version of the film as 100 min.

Voyager/Criterion lists their version of Confidetial Report at 99 min (off the back of the laserdisc)

that leaves the public domain version at 93 and 95 (Cannes Film Festival) mins (off IMDB) <----Can someone verify these times as i don't own any copies of this version.

Then there is the mysterious spanish version (anyone know the running time?)

That makes the Corinth cut the longest, and i know i stretch it when i say this but, the most complete version. I have been reading the past posts and it isn't very clear to me what the differences are in the Corinth cut is to the others. Can someone who owns or has seen this version please shed some light. All the talk about bats, parties and flashbacks is kind of confusing when trying to differentiate the different Arakdins

[Fredric]

The Corinth Version is the public doman version plus linking scenes to make the bizarre and disjointed editing make sense. The linking scenes return to the attic where Zouk and Van Stratten banter before flashing back again. That, it seems to me, is the only difference between Corinth and PD. "Confidential Report" is a completely different edit.

[TheMcGuffin]

Wowza....i just traded a few e-mails with Corinth Films and you indeed can get a dub of the movie on VHS, but it will cost $65!! They have to run it through their equipment and everything so it costs alot. Then i inquired about getting the movie on a better format than VHS, and they said they can give me a copy of digibeta for $740!!! but this is what they do for distributors who are going to show it on TV. I love digibeta and have access to equipment, but dang those prices are pretty high. I also asked if they have any plans of releasing to DVD in the near future, but I haven't heard back about that one....

*breaks open the piggy bank and starts counting pennies*

Rob

[colwood]

TheMcGuffin, thanks for asking and finding info I've been meaning to do for some time.