page_title: Orson Welles
section_title: Mr. Arkadin
hierarchical_section_title: Orson Welles / Europe (1948–1956) / Mr. Arkadin
caption_attribution_description: The actor Orson Welles posing on the steps of the plane on arrival in Madrid.Posted by Iberia Airlines 2004-03-05 11:52:34 as part of its "Distinguished Passengers" photoset."Early in the year [1954], OW begins filming Mr. Arkadin; shooting progresses over eight months in Madrid, other Spanish locations…" (Source: Orson Welles and Peter Bogdanovich, This is Orson Welles, Welles career chronology by Jonathan Rosenbaum, page 415)
context_page_description: George Orson Welles was an American actor, director, writer and producer who is remembered for his innovative work in radio, theatre and film. He is considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.
  While in his twenties Welles directed a number of high-profile stage productions for the Federal Theatre Project, including an adaptation of Macbeth with an entirely African American cast and the political musical The Cradle Will Rock. In 1937 he and John Houseman founded the Mercury Theatre, an independent repertory theatre company that presented a series of productions on Broadway through 1941, including Caesar, a Broadway adaptation of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
  In 1938, his radio anthology series The Mercury Theatre on the Air gave Welles the platform to find international fame as the director and narrator of a radio adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds, which caused widespread panic because many listeners thought that an invasion by extraterrestrial beings was actually occurring. Although some contemporary sources say these reports of panic were mostly false and overstated, they rocketed Welles to notoriety.
context_section_description: Welles's next turn as director was the film Mr. Arkadin (1955), which was produced by his political mentor from the 1940s, Louis Dolivet. It was filmed in France, Germany, Spain and Italy on a very limited budget. Based loosely on several episodes of the Harry Lime radio show, it stars Welles as a billionaire who hires a man to delve into the secrets of his past. The film stars Robert Arden, who had worked on the Harry Lime series; Welles's third wife, Paola Mori, whose voice was dubbed by actress Billie Whitelaw; and guest stars Akim Tamiroff, Michael Redgrave, Katina Paxinou and Mischa Auer. Frustrated by his slow progress in the editing room, producer Dolivet removed Welles from the project and finished the film without him. Eventually five different versions of the film would be released, two in Spanish and three in English. The version that Dolivet completed was retitled Confidential Report. In 2005 Stefan Droessler of the Munich Film Museum oversaw a reconstruction of the surviving film elements.
caption: Welles in Madrid during filming of Mr. Arkadin in 1954
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