Mr. Arkadin on DVD soon

[tonyw]

This is very good news since I postponed my screening of ARKADIN for this semester's class to wait for this new version. Does anyone know whether the MACBETH DVD will contain both versions? The University VHS copy is damaged so I'm using a rental copy ronight while putting my $2 VHS copy on reserve. It has tape drop during the "Banquo's Ghost" sequence - which I'll warn the class about (or those interested in a second viewing!).

But these DVD copies will make matters much easier in the future.

[jbrooks]

In regards to the comments attributed to Jonathan Rosenbaum above about the authorship of the Arkadin novel, do we really need any additional evidence that Welles did not write it? Welles tells Peter Bogdanovich on the "This Is Orson Welles" tapes that he "didn't write a word of it" (if I am remembering correctly. Was there some reason not to trust that that was true?

[Le Chiffre]

Because after Welles said that, Bogdanovich said that critics praised the book's beautiful writing style. Welles then responded, 'Maybe I did write it, at that.'

[chrissie]

Orson was being 'funny' when he said that, though, right? I laughed out loud at that comment, actually.

This Criterion release is incredibly exciting, I think. I'm not an Arkadin knocker. The horrible editing is to be ignored. The weird makeup doesn't bother me (he reminds me of Brian Blessed at a certain angle...), neither does Arden's hammy performance. Or even Paola, actually. Story is fine, many remarkable moments, and even the smoother cutting of the Corinth print makes a massive difference...

One Welles signature in there I've not seen talked about really. The 'chasing around pillars or somesuch' bit. This is also in Lady from Shanghai and Touch of Evil -- anywhere else? Othello maybe, not sure offhand, though I should know. Anyway, surprised to not see that noted somewhere as it seems to have been a shot he went out of his way to include during this period.

[Vidamonte]

I was in Locarno at "Mr.Arkadin-New Version" workshop and Francois Thomas from University Of Rennes told that he had studied the correspondance of Orson Welles and Maurice Bessy( who have wrote books on french about OW and also was his secretary for awhile) and found out for certain that Maurice Bessy wrote the book. He also told nice anecdote from a letter of OW to Bessy: " even if you were a drug addict and I were a kleptomaniac, we would still be friends"

[Le Chiffre]

I'm sure Maurice Bessy probably wrote the book (which I think is very good, BTW), but it was Welles's story and screenplay, which the book undoubtedly used as it's primary source which, one could argue, makes it essentially a work by Welles. It's hard to imagine Bessy would have written the book without some input or suggestions by Welles, especially if Welles's name was going on it as author.

[Terry]

Welles statement "maybe I did write it after all" only appears in the text version of TIOW, which was largely rewritten by him, in some instances to sanitize some insulting comments he made during the original interviews. If you listen to the actual recording from the audio version, Peter B. talks of how badly it was written and Welles agrees, doubting if even Bessy wrote it but had employed "some hack." Don't believe everything you read.

I'm still waiting for the 3 DVD set to appear on Criterion's own site, though I'm guardedly hopeful.

Regarding the weird makeup in Arkadin, I think it was Higham in The Films of Orson Welles who complained about how bad the makeup was, how Welles was better at doing makeup than that, how the makeup was obvious to the viewer and that Welles must have consciously given this information to the viewer, though Higham couldn't guess why. I thought the reason why must be that Arkadin was hiding his past and his real identity, going to the length of disallowing any photographs to be taken of him, and probably hiding his real face as well. THAT would be why Welles let us see than Arkadin's makeup was phoney, thank you Mr. Higham.

[Le Chiffre]

Welles statement "maybe I did write it after all" only appears in the text version of TIOW, which was largely rewritten by him, in some instances to sanitize some insulting comments he made during the original interviews. If you listen to the actual recording from the audio version, Peter B. talks of how badly it was written and Welles agrees, doubting if even Bessy wrote it but had employed "some hack." Don't believe everything you read.

True, but when it comes to Welles I don't believe everything I hear either.

[Terry]

Touche!

[Le Chiffre]

I re-listened to that portion on the TIOW tape set yesterday. Yes, Welles does sound fairly sincere about not having written the book. I still think the book is worth reading, though. It clarifies some things that the film deals with in an almost too-offhand way, like Sophie's "dancing academy". Welles's films are so stylish and densely packed that it's easy to lose alot of little plot points.

BTW Store Hadji, I think this is an example of insulting comments that Welles (or Bogdanovich?) sanitized. Thought you might get a kick out of it:

*****************************************************************

PB: I was going to say, isn't it funny that I'm much more comfortable, although my politics and my feelings are liberal, I'm much more comfortable talking with reactionaries about everything but politics than I am talking with liberals about anything but politics. You know what I mean? In other words, I find it much more, I really find the company of liberals rather stifling because their opinions about movies are alwas influenced by their opinions about politics. Reactionaries are different in that way. You know what I mean?

OW: I know what you mean, it's a big area- and aah, there it is.

PB: For instance, it is impossible for a liberal to accept anything by John Ford, it's impossible for them, you know. Or any movie with John Wayne becomes impossible to discuss, because he's,...John Wayne's a reactionary. Most of the liberals ignore him.

OW: You know what I have against John Wayne?

PB: Yeah?

OW: Is that he talks like a baby. Close your eyes and listen to him.

PB: Well, he is a baby.

OW: No, but he talks like a,...like a baby. He's a,...he's a,...he has a childlike voice.

PB: Yeah?

OW: With a method way of speaking. His voice timbre and his method of speaking is very close to baby talk.

PB: That's fascinating, I'll have to listen to him.

OW: He sounds like a spoiled little boy. Knowing that his winning ways will get the take printed, you know? That's what's against him, not the fact the he's, you know, a Fascist.

PB: Well, that's better then disliking him because he's a Fascist.

OW: I like him, you know.

PB: I like him very much.

OW: I wish he could only be photographed without listening to him. But he's fatal on the sound track.

PB: Yeah, great to look at.

OW: Well, great...he has a bulbous kind of monument. How did we get on that?

[Terry]

Where the domain of Lucifer did that come from? Authentic or forgery?

It is funny.

[Le Chiffre]

Can't reveal my source, but that is an authentic transcription from the original tape recording, done either by Rosenbaum or Bogdanovich. There's another segment of Welles talking about John Ford's "Irish" films that's just as bad, if not worse. I find myself wondering if Welles didn't have a few drinks in him when he rattled off some of that stuff. The French Ambersons DVD has a more complete version of the Welles/Bogdanovich Ambersons conversations then the TIOW set had, including Welles colorfully bashing Stanley Cortez and Delores Costello. I could be wrong, but it sounds like Welles may have been throwing back a few drinks there too. You can occasionally hear what sounds like ice rattling in a glass.

It'd be interesting to hear the complete Arkadin conversations, to see if Welles REALLY lets loose on Louis Dolivet. He may not have wanted to chance it, since that case actually did go to court.

[chrissie]

That's brilliant! Thanks for sharing. I always wanted to know the context of that Wayne/fascist stuff that's been alluded to here and there.

[jaime marzol]

wayne and ward bond were facists, and ran the american legion in the days that they thought comminists were going to take over america. chaplin blames wayne and bond personally for chasing him out of america. which was foolish for wayne to persecute chaplin through the american legion. he's much bigger than chaplin, he could have just gone over to chaplin's house and beat the crap out of the little tramp.

when ward bond died, ford closed the set of the film he was working on and flew to the funeral. when he got back, he looked at andy devine, and said, "well, ward bond is dead. now that makes you the biggest shit i know."

ford did not share wayne's and bond's politics

[Terry]

i saw a great documentary wayne did on vietnam about how the powers that be were preventing the soldiers from winning the war. wayne didn't come across like a fascist, but like a patriot. hitler was a fascist. and head of a socialist party.

i'll have to dig up the wayne thing and watch it again to get a better sense of his politics. it's stereotypical for liberals to call conservatives fascists and conservatives to call liberals socialists and communists. and speaking of poopy diapers, i'll listen too to hear wayne's "baby talk" - that's the revelation for me today! Some of my favourite john ford and howard hawks films may be ruined for me now.:O