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Poster for Mr. Arkadin

Mr. Arkadin

Discovering the past can be murder...

1955 · 1h 47m · Not Rated Mystery, Thriller
Directed by Orson Welles

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Overview

Claiming that he doesn't know his own past, a rich man enlists an ex-con with an odd bit of detective work. Gregory Arkadin says he can't remember anything before the late 1920s, and convict Guy Van Stratten is happy to take the job of exploring his new acquaintance's life story. Guy's research turns up stunning details about his employer's past, and as his work seems linked to untimely deaths, the mystery surrounding Mr. Arkadin deepens.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
72%
Tomatometer
Fresh

This fractured Citizen Kane, built of frames within frames and mirrors within mirrors, is aptly brought to life by Welles's later style, born of low budgets and high anxiety, its grotesque closeups and cocked angles suggesting worlds and minds askew.

Richard Brody, New Yorker
Rotten

Engaging meller it may be, but missing the incisive delineation that marked Kane.

Variety Staff, Variety
Fresh

Failure or not, it's irresistible.

Derek Adams, Time Out
Fresh

For all of the film's perversity, there is greatness in it -- a greatness harshly criticizing itself.

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Fresh

A film, which, for all its strangeness, is seldom less than brilliant.

New York Times

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