Mr. Arkadin

The minor flaws in all but one of Orson Welles' extraordinary films are particularly maddening because they are unnecessary. Since 1940, when Citizen Kane synthesized Horatio Alger and the "film noir" into a critical success, he has used the same ideas, the same flashback techniques, and even the same evil Prometheus as his protagonist. But these methods could not make the the story of a pathetic border sheriff in Touch of Evil as interesting as the life of Charles Foster Kane. Mr. Arkadin has a more heroic figure than the sheriff, but Welles' personal triumph in the title role cannot compensate for the weak ending and even weaker acting of the co-principals.

Although these these flaws keep it from sharing Kane's greatness, Mr. Arkadin remains brilliant. The work is alternately baffling and lucid, and should be see. Welles is certainly one of the finest contemporary directors; his camera work makes the French "nouvelle vague" group look amateurish. One particularly effective scene shows the grandeur of a penitentes procession in Barcelona. The black-robed figures passing in torchlight surpass the processions in Ivan the Terrible, for Welles is always free of the episodic tableau photography that marred Eisenstein's films.

But, alas, the flashback technique is overused, and the story becomes confused at times. The plot deals with the fortunes of Guy van Stratten, a tough American smuggler who falls in with Gregory Arkadin, a wealthy but mysterious citizen of the world. Van Stratten's attempt to blackmail the millionaire through his daughter Raina proves unsuccessful, but the American is hired to trace Arkadin's unknown past.

After a long inquiry through the European under-world, van Stratten discovers the criminal background of Arkadin's wealth. He finds, in addition, the real purpose of his mission. The financier, in a mad attempt to hide his past from Raina, wants to eliminate members of his former gang. Soon the investigator becomes the only person left in the way of Arkadin's ambition. Here Welles loses the chance for a dramatically effective ending by killing off Arkadin in a unrealistic way.

Arkadin, masterful character both in conception and portrayal, dominates the film, but he cannot carry the work alone. Robert Arden, an unappealing van Stratten, is not a convincing hero. Paola Meri's performance as Raina is even worse. She has one beautiful facial expression, much like a Modigliani portrait, but she refuses to change it.

Welles' European backers delayed the release of the film for seven years and sued him for "unprofessional conduct" during the filming. At the same time (1955) the critical Cahiers du Cinema proclaimed it one of the best movies ever made. Up to the finale, I would be inclined to agree with the Cahiers critics, in spite of the weakness in acting and flashback technique. But the whimper ending, which could so easily have been worked into a bang, drops it from the sublime to the extraordinary.