Themes: Haunted By the Past, Amateur Sleuths, Amnesia
Main Cast: Orson Welles, Michael Redgrave, Jack Watling, Patricia Medina, Akim Tamiroff, Robert Arden, Mischa Auer
Release Year: 1955
Country: UK/ES/FR
Run Time: 99 minutes
Plot
Also known as Mr. Arkadin, this flawed late effort by director Orson Welles recalls the structure of Citizen Kane, centering around an investigation into the past of a powerful millionaire. This time around, however, the millionaire is very much alive; in fact, it is Gregory Arkadin (Welles) himself who orders the inquiry, claiming to suffer from amnesia. The investigator soon gets a taste of the difficulty of his task, however, when several witnesses to Arkadin's past suspiciously turn up dead. Indeed, the closer he comes to the truth about Arkadin, the more he fears that he himself may be the next victim. While it aspires to intense suspense, Confidential Report suffers more than most of Welles' films from budgetary limitations and erratic shooting habits, with the final result often seeming choppy and needlessly confusing. Nevertheless, any Welles effort is by definition at least partially worthwhile, if only for further demonstration of his brilliant visual sensibility. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Review
Financed by Spanish and Swiss sources, and shot on a minuscule budget in Germany, France, and Spain, Mr. Arkadin (1955) was another Orson Welles tale of power, corruption, and the unraveling of a great man's mystery by an intrepid investigator. Conceived as Citizen Kane European-style and shot with Welles' customary skewed angles and high contrast black-and-white, the movie makes the most of its locations and palatial interiors to communicate Arkadin's seemingly unfathomable potency and inscrutable motives. Increasing the story's decadent aura, the reporter is a shady, fortune-hunting traveler hired by Arkadin under flimsy pretexts. Rather than Kane's extended flashbacks, however, Arkadin's past is pieced together through the verbal memories of a gallery of grotesque former associates, including a flea circus wrangler who feeds his insects with his own blood. Welles as Arkadin is a bearded gargoyle, hiding behind masks, shadows, and dark glasses. Like Kane, Arkadin remains an enigma, although the film's rough sound occasionally enhances his obscurity. Dubbed in Spanish and English, Mr. Arkadin was released in Europe in 1955 as Confidential Report; it was not released in America until 1962. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
