The Seven Arkadins

[Glenn Anders]

Several brilliant observations, Todd.

I had known that Arkadin had been behind all the murders. [In some of the dreadful edits out there before the Çriterion box, it was hard to know that some of the people Van Stratten had interviewed were kaput!] In the original movie I saw in Summer 1955, Zouk makes a vague reference to the fact that he is a marked man. And somewhere in the film, the number of people who know Arkadin's secret is mentioned -- a kind of running box score.

One of these sequences, alas, has still never made it into Stefan Droessler's impressively elegant compilation version. How much more is there than before, however, and how much more sense it all makes, as you explicate for us, Todd.

I had not made the connection, or had forgotten, that Arkadin has the personal pleasure of dispatching by himself those who knew his secret. I had forgotten or never noticed the knife throwing, or realized the significance of Sophie's remark.

But I don't know quite how, Todd, this makes Arkadin a more jolly corsair than Harry Lime!

It all must be a Russian thing!

Glenn

[ToddBaesen]

Glenn:

Thanks for the kind remarks...

By the way, it's amazing you can remember that one key scene that's still missing from all versions of the film... the one of Akim Tamiroff being released from Jail... It sounds like it must be among all the lost scenes that Welles complained about in the 14 minutes that were cut from his version of the film, (and ironically Zouk has spent 14 years in Jail).

Unfortunately, although that scene is not described in the novel, in the book, we do get much more background on why Tamiroff has gotten out of jail:

Van Stratten says:

When I went to the jail to visit him, I learned that he'd just been let out the day before. Because it was Christmas. But there was another motive behind this unusual concession, and the warder didn't conceal it: "The old geyser's sick... so he'd better die someplace else.

[ToddBaesen]

THE N.Y. Times weighs in on the new ARKADIN set:


April 18, 2006
Critic's Choice
New DVD's
By DAVE KEHR

The Complete Mr. Arkadin

The title of this important three-disc set from the Criterion Collection is already a reflection of wishful thinking. There is no "complete" version of "Mr. Arkadin," the film that Orson Welles labored over for much of 1954, for the simple reason that "Mr. Arkadin" was never completed. In 1955, after Welles had missed a Christmas deadline for a final cut, the producer, Louis Dolivet, took the film away from him and released his own version, retitled "Confidential Report," in 1956.

If there is no single "Mr. Arkadin," there are many different cuts that were released in different countries at different times. The Criterion set presents two, Mr. Dolivet's release version of 1956 as well as an earlier cut, which Welles scholars, including Peter Bogdanovich and Jonathan Rosenbaum, believe to be closer to Welles's intentions. Mr. Bogdanovich discovered it in the vaults of an American television syndication company in 1960.

And the Criterion set adds yet another version, a "comprehensive" one, assembled by the archivists Stefan Drössler and Claude Bartemes, that conforms to Welles's wishes as much as they are known. It uses the best existing print sources with added shots and sequences from the other versions, including two distinct Spanish-language cuts issued by the Spanish co-producer.

Not content with that, Criterion has tossed in both the film's rough draft, which took the form of three episodes of a radio show, "The Lives of Harry Lime," that Welles wrote and starred in, as well as the 245-page novelization of "Mr. Arkadin," originally published under Welles's name. (Most scholars now accept it as the work of Maurice Bessy, a Welles collaborator and critic.)

It's a captivating package, even if the film or films don't belong to the first rank of Welles's work. "Mr. Arkadin" remains a strange, magpie movie, assembled from elements lifted from past films Welles had worked on or been near. The plot, with the complex flashback structure suppressed by Mr. Dolivet and now restored, looks like a pulp writer's parody of "Citizen Kane": an investigator searches for the truth about a shady, powerful international businessman (played, with a putty nose and a plainly pasted-on beard, by Welles).

The investigator, a naïve American (Robert Arden), who supposedly makes his living as a sailor, is a borrowing of the naïve sailor Welles played in "The Lady From Shanghai" (1947); the businessman, with his network of dubious interests in postwar Europe, carries a big imprint of "The Third Man," in which Welles had starred for Carol Reed (1949); and there is even a carnival scene that appears to imitate the spectacular finale of "Gilda" (1946), which starred Rita Hayworth, who was then married to Welles.

Is "Mr. Arkadin" a brilliant piece of prepostmodernist "appropriation," recycling past achievements into a Wellesian meta-movie? Or is it just a mess, reflecting the difficulty Welles was experiencing as he tried to restart his failed American career in Europe?

Compelling arguments can be made either way, and many are in the course of the documentation that comes with the discs, which includes essays by the critic J. Hoberman, the French Welles scholar François Thomas (who prefers "Confidential Report" for its polished sound mix) and Mr. Rosenbaum, as well as an audio commentary by Mr. Rosenbaum and another American Wellesian, James Naremore. What is indisputable is that the film has never looked better than it does in this painstaking restoration. For those of us in the United States who have known "Mr. Arkadin" largely through a fuzzy, pirated edition, that is revelation enough. $49.95, not rated.

[Glenn Anders]

Dear Todd: And thank you for all your kindnesses, and your keen Van Stratten-like indefatiblebility!

The reason I remember the scene of Zouk leaving prison is that it was so magical. It practically made the film for me. It occurred between the shot of Van Stratten climbing the stairway [Rossenbaum and Naremore remark upon it in their Corinth discussion] and the dead-eyed shot of Zouk in the attic. That rectangular opening in which Van Stratten moves away from the camera became Zouk emerging, blinking into the light from his cell. The jailer made something like the remark you quote from the novel directly to Zouk, who says that he doesn't want to leave solitary. You may appreciate the Wellsian irony that Zouk's Christmas release for his health is really his death warrant. It of course makes the Arkadin/Santa Claus conceit resonate.

I liked a lot of the Times' review, Todd. It seems fair and perceptive, particularly the various "quotes" from other Welles' (or Welles connected) films, but surely Mr. Kehr means LADY FROM SHANGHAI rather than GILDA when he talks about a "carnival scene that appears to imitate the spectacular finale." The triangles are similar, but in my memory, the film ends rather abruptly after Villain George McCready is dispatched at his club. Perhaps, the scene Kehr refers to occurs earlier.

In any case, thank you for giving us a look at what will undoubtedly be a prestigious review.

Glenn

[Le Chiffre]

The reason I remember the scene of Zouk leaving prison is that it was so magical. It practically made the film for me. It occurred between the shot of Van Stratten climbing the stairway [Rossenbaum and Naremore remark upon it in their Corinth discussion] and the dead-eyed shot of Zouk in the attic. That rectangular opening in which Van Stratten moves away from the camera became Zouk emerging, blinking into the light from his cell. The jailer made something like the remark you quote from the novel directly to Zouk, who says that he doesn't want to leave solitary. You may appreciate the Wellsian irony that Zouk's Christmas release for his health is really his death warrant. It of course makes the Arkadin/Santa Claus conceit resonate.

That's a fascinating description, Glenn. It seems to make Zouk and Van Stratton part of the same labyrinth (or prison?).How could they have cut it?

So Zouk, in the foreground in darkness, heads towards the rectangular light in the background? And was the scene in one single shot? I'm trying to visualize it exactly as it would have fit into the original context. Because it seems somewhat illogical that we would see Van Stratton making his way toward's Zouk's apartment, then see Zouk being let out of prison, then cut back to Van Stratton entering the apartment and finding Zouk. Are you sure the order wasn't this way instead?:
1. Milly's body on the beach
2. Empty airplane
3. MR. ARKADIN title card
4. Zouk being let out of prison
5. Van Stratton heading past band to Zouk's place.
6. Van Stratton knocks on Zouk's door.

The Arkadin/Santa Claus connection brings to mind a recent review of the new Criterion set, which said that Arkadin looked like Santa Claus's evil twin. Also, someone on one of the Google ng's said ARKADIN was his favorite Christmas movie.

[Roger Ryan]

The reason I remember the scene of Zouk leaving prison is that it was so magical. It practically made the film for me. It occurred between the shot of Van Stratten climbing the stairway [Rossenbaum and Naremore remark upon it in their Corinth discussion] and the dead-eyed shot of Zouk in the attic. That rectangular opening in which Van Stratten moves away from the camera became Zouk emerging, blinking into the light from his cell. The jailer made something like the remark you quote from the novel directly to Zouk, who says that he doesn't want to leave solitary. You may appreciate the Wellsian irony that Zouk's Christmas release for his health is really his death warrant. It of course makes the Arkadin/Santa Claus conceit resonate.

That's a fascinating description, Glenn. It seems to make Zouk and Van Stratton part of the same labyrinth (or prison?).How could they have cut it?

So Zouk, in the foreground in darkness, heads towards the rectangular light in the background? And was the scene in one single shot? I'm trying to visualize it exactly as it would have fit into the original context. Because it seems somewhat illogical that we would see Van Stratton making his way toward's Zouk's apartment, then see Zouk being let out of prison, then cut back to Van Stratton entering the apartment and finding Zouk. Are you sure the order wasn't this way instead?:
1. Milly's body on the beach
2. Empty airplane
3. MR. ARKADIN title card
4. Zouk being let out of prison
5. Van Stratton heading past band to Zouk's place.
6. Van Stratton knocks on Zouk's door.

The Arkadin/Santa Claus connection brings to mind a recent review of the new Criterion set, which said that Arkadin looked like Santa Claus's evil twin. Also, someone on one of the Google ng's said ARKADIN was his favorite Christmas movie.

Mteal's reordering of the shots would still work stylistically since the doorway Van Stratten steps through as he passes the band is rectangular as well. In effect, Zouk would exit the space which Van Stratten would enter after the dissolve, symbolically linking the garrett to the prison cell.

I'm thinking that the decision to place the credits at the film's beginning (non-bat Corinth version, right?) would have resulted in the Zouk prison release scene being cut since it would have made the opening credit sequence too busy (I believe it would be another ten years before it would become accepted for scenes with important dialogue to play under credits). A question for Glenn would be if he remembers the credits playing at the end of the film back in '55!

Personally, I love how the new "Comprehensive Version" uses the "Silent Night" music to immediately establish that the film takes place during the holiday season; it's like an overture that is timed to end perfectly in synch with the fadeout on the stairwell, the fade signifying to the audience that the story proper is about to begin. Had Zouk's prison scene remained in the position mteal suggests, we would have had Zouk leaving, Van Stratten entering, close-up of Zouk, close-up of Van Stratten, then finally the two meeting. Nice symmetry.

[Glenn Anders]

You must remember, mteal and Roger, that I am recalling a version of a film that I saw ONCE, over 50 years ago.

My only thought is that the scene of Zouk's release, which I was interested to learn is in the novelized MR. ARKADIN, was discarded years ago, available only in part, or marred in some way. Perhaps Drossler, if he did find the footage, just decided it did not fit his vision.

Let me go back back to my description, written as an Epinion in 2000, long before I had any idea that the film might be restored:

"This CONFIDENTIAL REPORT began with a fade in of the nude body of a young woman lying on a beach, and then a close up of her face and open eyes.

"(The sound of waves. The voice of Adventurer Guy Van Stratten [Robert Arden] spoke a eulogy for Milly [Patricia Medina] and trailed off.) The camera lifted in a lap dissolve to an airplane flying aimlessly. (Sound of engine. A Narrator [Welles] told us that the sighting of this plane on Christmas Morning last eventually threw half a dozen European governments into turmoil, and that the film would reveal why.)

"Another dissolve, this one to black, and almost immediately, a cell door opened in a bright rectangle near mid-screen, and an old man, Jacob Zouk (Akim Tamiroff), came blinking into the light. Because he was near death, Zouk was being released from a German prison, where he had been confined for 14 years. As he stumbled reluctantly down the hall, Zouk complained that he didn't want to go outside, that he had forebodings. The jailer said, too bad, he was pardoned and had to go. Zouk's mind filled with strange, violent images from World War II and before.

"(Cut to a tenement at Sabastian Platt 16, Munich, Germany.) Van Stratten took up the narration again, finding Zouk, and after a time, explaining to Zouk in flashback how it was he had come to this bleak city tenement, at the bidding of one Gregory Arkadin (Welles), on Christmas Eve.

"The last part of the film revealed why the plane in the first sequence was flying with no one in it.

"All the credits were at the end, a practice Welles favored."

That scenario would pretty well fit what you both suggest. What I remember saying at the time was: "You know, guys, this movie was like a flashback within a flashback within a flashback."

The rectangular doorway full of light against a dark screen would have been used in several ways. Van Stratten would have been going into the tenement. Zouk would going in toward the light and then coming out into the cold dimly lit prison hallway. And late, in the movie, Arkadin makes a somewhat similar entrance to the tenement.

As you put it perfectly, Roger: "In effect, Zouk would exit the space which Van Stratten would enter after the dissolve, symbolically linking the garrett to the prison cell."

Zouk's exit into doomed light would be Van Stratten's entrance into promising darkness.

Milly's dead eyes were looking toward the sky, and it is my impression that the eyes of Zouk are meant to refer to the eyes of the dead Milly, early and late, but I do not describe the exact mechanism of the tripple flashback as you both do, but it must essentially be as you have it.

I cannot remember if the title was where it is in Drossler's version, but I agree, Roger, that the credits were all at the end.

Finally, the above exerpt came from a review which was part of a "Christmas Write-Off" in the Year 2000, a practice peculiar to Epinions. It was entitled:

"CONFIDENTIAL REPORT/ MR. ARKADIN (Christmas Write-off): Orson's Noirish Gooseliver."

And so, it fits your remark, mteal, about MR. ARKADIN being a strange (and favorite) Christmas offering.

Indeed, not only Zouk and Van Stratten but Arkadin are linked by coming to that dark garret, with Hitler turned on his ear in the corner.

Glenn

[Roger Ryan]

Thank you Glenn for your clarification. I see now that it is possible that Welles was playing around with the rectangular doorway shapes with Zouk leaving the prison followed by Van Stratten entering Sebastian Platz 16. I also suspect that the prison footage was dropped when Welles (or others?) determined to put the credits at the film's beginning (Welles may have ultimately thought that the prison scene was one digression too many anyway).

The prison scene footage you describe, by the way, was not found among the varied material used by Stefan Droessler and Claude Bertemes for the "Comprehensive Version". It may interest you to know that they told me last year that they had read your Epinion review as part of their research and I suspect they may have chosen to place the credits at the end of their version in part because of your recollection.

[Glenn Anders]

Thank you, Roger. That information is indeed gratifying.

I wish there was an Arkadinian option to pursue.

Glenn

[Le Chiffre]

The prison scene footage you describe, by the way, was not found among the varied material used by Stefan Droessler and Claude Bertemes for the "Comprehensive Version".

That's too bad. No stills either? Maybe someone can do an Adobe Premiere thing on it sometime. Roger? Jaime?

In the novel Zouk is just one of the several vignettes that make up Van Stratton's investigation. It would be interesting to know why Welles, somewhere along the way, decided to elevate him into one of the leading characters.

[Roger Ryan]

In the novel Zouk is just one of the several vignettes that make up Van Stratton's investigation. It would be interesting to know why Welles, somewhere along the way, decided to elevate him into one of the leading characters.

I tend to think Welles found Akim Tamiroff's performance highly amusing, which it is. After that first day of shooting, Welles probably wanted more of Tamiroff. "Arkadin" was the first film they worked on together, right?

[Harvey Chartrand]

Nay, 'twas BLACK MAGIC in 1949, co-directed by Welles and co-starring Tamiroff's wife Tamara Shayne.

[Tony]

co-directed by Welles? ???

[Roger Ryan]

co-directed by Welles? ???

Well, there is the oft-quoted story of the film's producer arriving on set during a crowd scene only to find Welles on a camera platform directing the action. When the producer asked where director Gregory Ratoff was, Welles pointed out into the crowd where Ratoff was happily performing as an extra in his own film. Officially, of course, Welles was not credited as co-director.

Thanks Harvey, by the way, for reminding me of Tamiroff being in the film.