Australian Penthouse

Confidential Report (aka Mr. Arkadin/1955)

Cast: Orson Welles, Robert Arden, Paola Mori, Patricia Medina, Akim Tamiroff, Michael Redgrave, Mischa Auer, Katina Paxinou, Suzanne Flon

MADMAN

Written and directed by, and starring Orson Welles, Confidential Report (1955), also known as Mr Arkadin in Europe, is often referred to as being a darker reimagining of Welles’ classic Citizen Kane (1941). But at the time, the film was considered Welles’ last shot at Hollywood’s big budget pictures, in fact, his three previous films—The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), The Stranger (1946), The Lady from Shanghai (1948)—had performed so poorly that Welles had to stop-and-start Confidential Report in between taking acting jobs to finance the film.

When Guy Van Stratten (Robert Ardin) hears the name “Arkadin” from the lips of a dying man muttered to his partner in white-collar crime Mily (Patricia Medina), he senses an opportunity.  After some research, Van Stratten finds the mysterious Arkadin (Orson Welles) in Italy, suffering amnesia.  Attracted by his vast wealth and his feisty and lovely daughter, Raina (Paola Mori), Van Stratten accepts a proposition from Arkadin: to prepare a report detailing the now-forgotten events of his life in order for him to recover who he was.

Motivated by greed, Van Stratten delves deep into the history of Mr Arkadin, traveling the globe in search of witnesses to help him uncover the mystery. But as his witnesses begin to turn up dead, Van Stratten realises there is something more sinister than a missing persons report waiting to be uncovered… Arkadian is lying about his amnesia: he plans to use Van Stratten’s findings to track down anyone who knows about his criminal past, and kill them to ensure their silence.

Welles had written a deep story structured around flashbacks; however, financier Luis Dolivet and second editor Renzo Lucidi eliminated most of this in favour of a straightforward script.  According to Welles, scenes crucial to developing Arkadin’s character were also deleted.  One version of the film was released in the U.S.A. in 1962. Another (Confidential Report) opened in Europe in 1955. Still other variants, some of terribly low quality, have appeared on video. Welles disowned every version he saw in his lifetime

Welles played the part of Arkadin himself. For the lead role of Van Stratten, he cast Robert Arden, a veteran of the stage whom Welles worked with in radio. English/Spanish actress Patricia Medina was cast as Van Stratten’s girlfriend Mily, the scheming showgirl he discards in his pursuit of Raina, the Italian Countess di Girfalco, Paola Mori (later to become the third Mrs Welles).

The director of photography was Jean Bourgoin, who shot Jean Renoir’s La Marseillaise (1938), and later Marcel Camus’ Black Orpheus (1959). Confidential Report is fascinating because it is not one film but many. A unique film in that its many incarnations remain available to view.  Film buffs can witness the dissembling of Welles’ ideal into a streamlined and superficial (yet still rewarding) film.