One of the most enjoyable bad movies ever made, this disaster has become something of a cause-celebre in the Welles canon by virtue of hardly ever being seen. It's like a Mad Magazine parody of "Citizen Kane" crossed with "The Third Man" as Robert Arden darts around the world trying to piece together the life of Welles' mysterious billionaire. On route he encounters a whole battalion of eccentrics and guest stars, some of whom (Michael Redgrave, Katina Paxinou, Akim Tamiroff, Suzanne Flon) prove to be highly entertaining while Welles himself, as Arkadian, hams it up ridiculously.
It's Arden's investigator that drags the film down. It's one of the cinema's truly terrible performances, though he isn't helped by the hopelessly banal dialogue. Of course, it looks terrific and almost any frame will tell you you're watching an Orson Welles movie and there are few directors of whom you can say that. Terrible it may be, but absolutely essential at the same time.
It's Arden's investigator that drags the film down. It's one of the cinema's truly terrible performances, though he isn't helped by the hopelessly banal dialogue. Of course, it looks terrific and almost any frame will tell you you're watching an Orson Welles movie and there are few directors of whom you can say that. Terrible it may be, but absolutely essential at the same time.