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Young Orson Welles had the world on a string in 1940. The wunderkind of radio, stage, and screen had already created a national stir with his all-black postmodern production of
Othello and the 1938
War of the Worlds broadcast. With
Citizen Kane, he set his sights on one of the most powerful men in America: William Randolph Hearst. Little did he realize the consequences that his film would bring about. Hearst had staggering amounts of money and influence that he could bring to bear on Welles and RKO Studios. Particularly offensive to the newspaper tycoon was Welles's portrayal of his longtime paramour, Marion Davies;
Citizen Kane showed the actress as a talentless numbskull and a lush, and painted their relationship in unflattering terms. Hearst offered huge sums of money to buy the negative of
Kane so that he could burn it; when the studio released the film anyway, he pulled RKO advertising from all Hearst newspapers. With gossip columnist Louella Parsons as his attack dog, he threatened to publicize all sorts of suppressed scandals from over the years, and hinted that "the American public won't be happy to know the number of Jews in the movie industry."
The collision between the 19th-century Hearst and the modern genius and upstart Welles proved to be disastrous to both men for both their names and their careers. Not until years later did Kane receive its due as one of the greatest films ever produced, vindicating itself and Welles both. This documentary provides rare insights into the lives and legacies of Welles and Hearst, carefully framing the debate over the film in the context of the times. Commentary by directors Peter Bogdanovich and Robert Wise (who served as editor for Kane) as well as the son of screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz helps bring home the controversy as it applied to the world of Hollywood. --Jerry Renshaw
Video Description
A thinly-veiled portrait of the immensely powerful newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst, the movie created a buzz long before it was released. Most people thought it the work of a genius, but Hearst set out to destroy the director, Orson Welles, and suppress the movie. Just a year earlier Welles had terrorized the east coast with a radio broadcast simulating an alien invasion. But now the 24-year-old boy-genius had taken on one of the most powerful men in America.
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