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Add a QuoteGregory Arkadin (to an admiring crowd): "And now, I'm going to tell you about a scorpion. This, scorpion, wanted to cross a river. So he asked the frog to carry him. "No," said the frog, "no, thank you. If I let you on my back, you may sting me. And the sting of a scorpion is death." "Now, where," asks the scorpion, "is the logic in that?" (for scorpions always try to be logical) "If I sting you -- you will die. I will drown." So the frog was convinced, and allowed the scorpion on his back, but... just in the middle of the river, he felt a terrible pain and realized that after all the scorpion had stung him. "Logic!" cried the dying frog as he started under, bearing the scorpion down with him. "There is no logic in this..." "I know," said the scorpion, "but I can't help it... It's my character." Let's drink to character." (laughter)
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Add a CommentI was completely unaware of the chaotic history of this Orson Welles film, (which he called the biggest disaster of his career), before viewing it. This Criterion collection has three versions, the "comprehensive" being the modern restorative project done on it, reconstructing it using material from five differently structured versions originally released worldwide. Evidently Welles missed an editing deadline, and so the producer, Louis Dovilet, took the film out of his hands and released several edits of the film, none of which were approved by Welles. Effectively, there is no final cut depicting the man's true vision of it. The movie, to me, was premised on convoluted, scattered nonsense. Flashy jet-setting and decadence with a scrambled plot. I do, however, commend those devoted to its historical significance, and I admire and respect the lengths they went to to salvage and preserve what's left of a brilliant man's legacy.