Made by Orson Welles’ Mercury Productions at the same time as Magnificent Ambersons; it’s not as highly regarded a film (the director – despite attempts to disprove this – was Norman Foster) but to be honest it is more fun to watch. This was cut about too but lacks the romance of Amberson’s “if only” post-production story
There is still plenty of imagination and avante garde stuff – an intriguing opening sequence, with a pre-credit scene of an assassin getting ready (Jack Moss who doesn’t talk; brilliant), odd credits (Joseph Cotten’s screenplay credit up the front, Welles billed down on the cast list), strange soft-spoken narration (apparently put in at RKO’s request and not really needed - it adds some atmosphere at first but soon becomes irritating). It has plenty of Welles touches, including a magic show and Dolores del Rio (in a leopard outfit some at the time), plus a terrific fight at the end in the rain on a ledge.
Cotten plays an American arms dealer in Turkey to make a sale who finds people are trying to kill him. I think Cotten is meant to be an innocent abroad – that’s how the role is played – but he is an arms dealer, even if he’s out of his element, so you don’t feel too sorry for him. There are lots of shady types running around, just like in a Mr Moto film (of which Foster directed a number). Indeed, this plays like a Moto film done with some A list talent, with Welles’s Turkish police chief being like Moto.
Welles has a lot of presence as always but his performance is pretty dreadful (as he himself admitted. He is compensated by good work from Cotten and the support cast, including Agnes Moorehead and Moss. The film starts very well but does get bogged down on the boat with Cotten spending too much time walking around going “someone’s trying to kill me” without anything else happening (it feels like it needed another plot or something)
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