Bryan, Joel, and Don, Thanks for the interesting information. I've looked at three or four videotapes under the name _Mr. Arkadin_, and they're all the really terrible version in which the early scene on the waterfront begins in the middle of a sentence on the voiceover. _Confidential Report_ is much better, but Bogdanovich and Naremore both claim the Corinth version is closer to Welles's intentions (for whatever that's worth) and that it has a slightly different narrative trajectory (like _CR_, the narrative begins in Zouk's flat and works in flashbacks, but Naremore (I think) claims that it returns to Zouk "from time to time," which is not the case w/ _CR_ (it begins there and comes back when the narrative catches up to Van Stratten's arrival, but that's it)). Maybe the Corinth version is "widely available" on videotape, and I'm just not catching it. I think the Reel.com version, whose cover I recognize, is the bad edit. At any rate, I think the movie's fascinating. Welles apparently hated it, and you can obviously see why, but the editing within scenes is fine and feels very Wellsian (check out the crazy cut in the Redgrave section when he passes under the ladder). The narrative is certainly screwed up, but I actually find it hard to believe that the film has much potential for narrative coherence (or even interest) no matter who did the editing. In fact, What makes it so interesting to me is that it kind of wears Welles' ambivalence about narrative on its sleeve. For my money, the story is largely an excuse to string together these amazing scenes in which Van Stratten encounters Arkadin and his former cronies. The tension that develops between those bits (which not only contain incredible performances but are also beatifully photgraphed) and the lifeless detective story seems to me to be the real heart of the movie. I also think its probably Welles' funniest movie (though _The Trial_ comes close). Sean ******************************************************************************* Sean Desilets * "The only people who * * believe that there is Department of English * a language that is East Hall * * not theoretical are Tufts University * professors of Medford, MA 02155 * * literature." [log in to unmask] * Paul de Man ******************************************************************************* ---- For past messages, visit the Screen-L Archives: http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html