33° TORINO FILM FESTIVAL
FESTA MOBILE/ORSON WELLES

MR. ARKADIN

MR. ARKADIN
by Orson Welles
Country: France, Spain, Switzerland
Year: 1955
Duration: 93'


Van Stratten is an American smuggler with a checkered history working in Europe. He happens to witness the death of a man who utters two names with his dying breath: Gregory Arkadin and Sophie. Intrigued by the mystery and the possibility of turning a profit, he tries to find them. He soon discovers that Arkadin is a wealthy socialite. When he meets him, the millionaire confesses that he has no memory of his life before 1927 and hires Van Stratten to research his past and file a confidential report. Van Stratten sets off, travelling around the world, interrogating peculiar characters like a tailor in Zurich, a flea circus ringmaster in Copenhagen, an antiques dealer in Amsterdam, and a Polish baroness. In Mexico he runs into Sophie, who is mysteriously killed shortly thereafter. As the investigation continues, Van Stratten starts suspecting that Arkadin himself might be behind it all, tormented by something hidden in his past.

Biography

film director

Orson Welles

Orson Welles (Kenosha, WI, USA, 1915-Hollywood, CA, USA, 1985) is considered one of important and brilliant filmmakers and actors in the history of cinema, theater and radio (his famous prank and radio adaptation of the sci-fi piece The War of the Worlds generated widespread panic in the United States). He became a film-phenomenon with Citizen Kane (1941), which he made when he was only twenty-five years old, and is still widely considered one of the fundamental movies from the 20th century. He made many important films throughout his long and troubled career, which include The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), The Lady from Shanghai (1947), Mr Arkadin (1955), Touch of Evil (1958), and the Shakespearian adaptations of Macbeth (1948), Othello (1952), and Falstaff (1965). He won several awards, including the Palme d’Or for Othello in 1952, the Golden Lion and the Academy Honorary Award in 1970.

FILMOGRAFIA

Citizen Kane (Quarto Potere, 1941), The Magnificent Ambersons (L’orgoglio degli Amberson, 1946), The Stranger (Lo straniero, 1946), The Lady from Shanghai (La signora di Shanghai, 1947), Macbeth (id., 1948), Othello (Otello, 1952), Mr Arkadin (Rapporto confidenziale, 1955), Touch of Evil (L’infernale Quinlan, 1958), Falstaff (id., 1965), Histoire immortelle (Storia immortale, 1968).

Cast

& Credits

regia, sceneggiatura/director, screenplay
Orson Welles
soggetto/story
dal radiodramma/from the radio script The Lives of Harry Lime di/by Ernest Bornemann, Orson Welles
fotografia/cinematography
Jean Bourgoin
montaggio/film editing
Renzo Lucidi
musica/music
Paul Misraki
suono/sound
Jacques Lebreton
interpreti e personaggi/cast and characters
Orson Welles (Gregory Arkadin), Robert Arden (Guy Van Stratten), Paola Mori (Raina Arkadin), Akim Tamiroff (Jacob Zouk), Michael Redgrave (Burgomil Trebitsch)
produttori/producers
Louise Dolivet, Orson Welles
produzione/production
Filmorsa, Cervantes Films, Sevilla Films, Mercury Productions, Bavaria Film
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