Mr. Arkadin on DVD soon

[Terry]

Yes, I will refrain from defending the short version of Arkadin any further.

[tonyw]

Glenn certainly makes a very interesting point about Stanley Baker in his postings. As you know, the actor made two films with Robert Aldrich - THE ANGRY HILLS and SODOM AND GOMORRAH. Aldrich was very influenced by the visual style of Orson Welles and both men intuitively responded to the different cultural climate of the Cold War in certain ways.

I watched the Munich restoration twice in 24 hours earlier this week and the large projection facilities in a classroom allowed me to observe better the noir features of ARKADIN as well as the visual use of background clutter in the rooms inhabited by Zouk and Trebitsch. Aldrich also used this element very creatively in ATTACK! He could not have seen any version of ARKADIN until he completed his 1950s films but he did later work with Joseph Biroc who was one of the cinematographers on IT'S ALL TRUE.

However, another interesting and coincidental parallel came to mind - KISS ME DEADLY - which Welles could not have seen at the time he was working on Arkadin. Robert Arden's character has many similarities to Ralph Meeker's Mike Hammer. Both are tough guys. They become involved in a search for their own version of the "Great Whatzit", and place females involved with them into danger(Velda/Milly). Both confront sophisticated male villains (Arkadin;Soberin) and each film ends with no major character obtaining what they really want.

These films are different. The directors never saw each other's work at the time. But they both represent creative "noir" visions of a changed post-war world in which boundaries are blurred and former certainties no longer exist.

Criterion deserves credit not only for these 3 versions but also for stimulating further questions concerning the nature of the 1950s cinema, the role of the director, and the influences affecting them from a contemporary cultural and historical climate.

[robertdavidmonell]

Interesting comparison with ATTACK. There exists a photo taken of Aldrich on the set of ATTACK prominently displaying the classic French text on film noir. Welles film is possibly more daring in its style and locating the problem as not war itself but rather, as in KANE, Capitalism. ARKADIN is an evocation of the chaos which ensues when Facism is turned, like the Hitler picture, upside down. Hitler also appears in KANE alongside the main character. But Arkadin is not a robber baron like Kane, he bloodies his own hands. Welles became politically "incorrect" as soon as Roosevelt died and the enemy became not Facism [remember THE STRANGER and his THE SMILER WITH A KNIFE project] but Communism. We know who kept files on him and although he wasn't blacklisted, he may as well have been.

[Terry]

Never noticed this until now:

In the scene where Guy and Raina discover Arkadin in Guy's hotel room, there's a longish shot from over Arkadin's shoulder (the one including the line about "that old fashioned melodrama about your innocent daughter all alone with a wicked bachelor") and Welles isn't wearing his Arkadin wig - that's his own hair - and you get a glimpse of what looks like his own nose as well. Very funny, now that I've noticed it (and how many dozens of viewings did that take?)

[Harvey Chartrand]

Anglo-American actor Robert Arden had a rather spotty and undistinguished career after starring in MR. ARKADIN. Arden went on to star in the minor film noir THE DEPRAVED, worked with another genius director, Charles Chaplin, on A KING IN NEW YORK (albeit in a tertiary role) and had a supporting role in NEVER TAKE SWEETS FROM A STRANGER, a controversial film about a pedophile terrorizing a community. On TV, Arden was a series regular for one season (1959-60) on THE VISE, a popular British crime drama. As the years passed, the parts became even smaller, with walk-ons in such films as CALL ME BWANA, DEATH DRUMS ALONG THE RIVER and THE GOOD SHOE MAKER AND THE POOR FISH PEDDLER. Then a long gap in his filmography – no acting jobs from 1966 to 1978, although Arden is credited as an associate producer on the 1968 made-for-TV-movie remake of A HATFUL OF RAIN. Arden has a good part as Harry Hopkins in CHURCHILL AND THE GENERALS in 1979, followed by lots of work in the 1980s, his busiest acting period since the 1950s, with parts in OMEN III: THE FINAL CONFLICT, CONDORMAN, RAGTIME, THE GLORY BOYS, D.A.R.Y.L., MURROW, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, WHOOPS APOCALYPSE, THE BOURNE IDENTITY (TV-movie with Richard Chamberlain), and A VERY BRITISH COUP. In 1990, Simon Callow interviews Arden for his book on Orson Welles. Arden refers (without admitting) to not being ready for his starring role in MR. ARKADIN. Not many credits after 1990. He dies in obscurity. The date of Arden’s death has not even been recorded on IMDB. It is sad what happened to Robert Arden – plucked from radio actor obscurity for a leading role in MR. ARKADIN and then his hopes are dashed after the film doesn't click at the box office. His performance is panned and Orson abandons him (Callow says that attempts at maintaining the friendship were rebuffed). So it's back to bit parts in films and TV, supplemented by radio work. One critic pointed out that if Orson had been able to get Richard Basehart to play Guy Van Stratten, MR. ARKADIN would have been an instant classic. Basehart married Italian actress Valentina Cortese and moved to Europe in 1951, acting in many European films (including John Huston’s MOBY DICK, filmed in England and Ireland, in which he shares screen time with Orson as Father Mapple). Here’s to what might have been (the four saddest words in the English language)…

[tonyw]

Concerning Robert David's point concerning ATTACK! Aldrich does not criticize war itself but rather the corrupt military bureacracy represented by Lee Marvin and his "good ol'boy" politics which alllows a mentally disturbed incompetent to command a platoon and cause his men to die. Aldrich was, of course, attacking the system but as he was working in cold war Hollywood, he had to be more subtle in his methods.

Had things been different, Welles would have returned to Hollywood and made his own type of cinema, as did Aldrich. But, at the time, he was not only regarded as troublesome but a premature anti-Fascist.

[Glenn Anders]

ATTACK has always been one of my favorite motion pictures, from an evening in Kent, Ohio, when I saw it by accident. It is one of the few American war movies which was not made with the cooperation of the U.S. Military. They understandably did not like the suggestion that a political caste system would influence tactical decisions in the field. PATHS OF GLORY, possibly Kubrick's best picture, is a comparable film. And once again, the influence of Welles may be considered.

I have always thought that Eddie Albert's company commander is one of the great acting performances by an American actor. His character, the rejected son of a small town politician who saw his commission as a star on his resume, is doubly revealing when viewed in light of our leadership today. The Captain Erskine Cooney's of our world, bolstered by family connections, often live to run for political office. They wear their "service" like a get-in-free pass, no matter how shameful it may have been. They make those who served only because it was their duty look bad.

Welles would have understood that, too.

Glenn

[Roger Ryan]

TCM will show the version called Confidential Report. It is considered to be the one furthest from Welles' original intentions (at least that 93-minute version still had Welles dubbing Bracco.)

Personally, I think "Confidential Report" is better (closer to Welles' intentions?) than the public domain "Mr. Arkadin" that removes the flashback structure completely. It seems pretty certain that TCM is re-airing the film to coincide with the Criterion box set release; I wonder if Robert Osborne will do a new intro/outro commenting on the box set?

Yep, TCM showed the "Confidential Report" version this morning with no intro or outro done by Robert Osborne. Given that over the past few months TCM has shown special versions or restorations of films ("King Kong") and documentaries (Buster Keaton) the same week they were being released on DVD, I would have hoped they would have done something more with "Mr. Arkadin" (especially since they've been running a commercial promoting the box set).

[catbuglah]

I liked Robert Arden in Arkadin - I feel it works - from the outtakes it looks like he probably wasn't ready for the part - Welles pulled it out of him, same thing for Paola Mori, heavily coached by Welles...

[jaime marzol]

i watched the comprehensive version last night. i thought it was fabulous.

[tonyw]

Eddie Albert was actually coached by Stella Adler at Aldrich's recommendation when he wanted to become a serious actor rather than a lightweight song and dance man. He repayed the favor to Aldrich when he sang the title song for a Western Aldrich produced starring Anthony Quinn and William Conrad a years or so later.

[robertdavidmonell]

MR ARKADIN seems to combine a number of genres, the post-war thriller, the Eurospy film, the film noir, to create its own, new genre and I can see why Truffaut said it was the film which launched the Nouvelle Vague in many ways. But Arkadin would have been a perfect nemesis for James Bond as well. After seeing all these versions and considering some of Welles' comments I think he saw Arkadin as the kind of Old World rogue who has disappeared as Arkadin does at the end and preferable to the unpleasant operative that Arden's Von Stratten represents [it would have been a different story with Basehart in the role].

[Jeff Wilson]

If you haven't bought the set yet, Amazon now has it for 45% off. The Wellesnet affiliate link to buy it is below, should you be so inclined.

Complete Arkadin at Amazon

[tonyw]

Ironically, this is the same price offered by Deep Discount DVD before Criterion intervened and upped the price. But the 3 disk set is really worth it so members should jump at this iquickly in case of another Criterion price increase.

[Glenn Anders]

Glad that we are all getting to see something like the real MR. ARKADIN.

I had not known that Aldrich was so helpful to Albert, tonyw. As I look at his work, I see that he played a number of serious roles previous to ATTACK: in DISPATCH FROM REUTERS, SMASH UP, ACTORS AND SIN, CARRIE.

But nothing like Captain Erskine Cooney in ATTACK.

Later, he had several serious roles. in 1958, for instance, he turned in an interesting performance as a military assassin in ORDERS TO KILL, an unsung study of covert activity during World War II. The film was a suggestion of what was to come.

Albert, along with Burgess Meredith, must have had one of the longest, most successful careers as a character actor in American theatrical history.

Thank you for the information, tonyw.

Glenn