Citizen Kane

THE CLASSIC FILM DVD "CITIZEN KANE": A REVIEW

FOFCK_upperleft CITIZENKANE
Directed by: Orson Welles - Written by: Herman Mankiewicz, Orson Welles
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, Dorothy Comingore. Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick, Everett Sloane
Released: I94I

What can be said about Citizen Kane that hasn’t already been said? Why is it the number one film on the American Film Institutes’s “Top I00 Movies of All Time” list? And aren’t we tired of hearing about it, as artists are tired of the Mona Lisa? But relax and enjoy, if you haven’t seen it. is like a rare bottle of wine, full of flavors and accents.
The story was based on the life of William Randolph Hearst, a well known and still powerful a newspaper tycoon at the time of the making of Citizen Kane in I940. Hearst inherited great wealth, owned newspapers in every city, ran for office and was defeated, and collected statuary and even whole buildings in Europe. If you want to see the real “Xanadu” as it is called in the film, take a tour of the “Hearst Castle” on the coast of California.
Hearst was wealthy; he dabbled in movie making himself; his mistress was a movie star; he invited the Hollywood elite up to his palace for merrymaking and fun. But not everyone was amused, especially the corps of Hollywood lefties who despised great wealth and rich businessmen. Among them was Herman Mankiewicz, who had the idea for Citizen Kane and wrote the script in collaboration with Welles, although some say Welles didn't do that much. But they had guts. In that day, picking on Hearst would be like doing a film satire on Bill Gates or Rupert Murdoch today.
The film is constructed as a puzzle. Hearst's last word, “Rosebud”, creates a mystery for a gaggle of reporters to try to solve. “What is ‘rosebud’?”, they ask everyone associated with Kane. Rashoman-like, each respondent has a different story to tell about the man, and the story makes for one of the great achievements in cinema.
But why Hearst? It’s really a story about America, a confused mixture of bluster, promises, and high ideals, but corrupt and money loving; basically immature and in love with itself. It’s also a confession by Welles; as ladies man and egotist. Welles as Hearst seduces his mistress as Hearst did the American public, with parlor tricks, much as his newspapers seduced the public with the yellow journalism of sensational murder stories.
In I94I Orson Welles was a twenty-five year old theatrical and radio star in New York, who, traveling into the tight-knit mafia-like Hollywood community, made at RKO studios a far better film than the manufactured star-system product that Hollywood cranked out like sausage. He was not forgiven. Welles was called the "boy genius". Hearst still had a lot of power through his newspaper chain, and he made sure that Citizen Kane did not succeed financially. The fact that “rosebud” was Hearst’s pet name for his mistress’s private part made him even more infuriated.
The film is densely layered and textured, and full of inside references to Hearst and his mistress, actress Marion Davies (played by Dorothy Comingore). Kane's mistress is constantly playing with jigsaw puzzles in the picture. That reflects the puzzle the reporters have in tracking “rosebud”; the puzzle that was Hearst’s life; and the fact that Hearst once bought a European mosaic that had been long ago smashed to pieces; and perhaps also the original Marion had played with puzzles too.
After Welles’ second film at RKO, he was never allowed to direct a major budget film again. He starred in a few pictures for a while to get eating money, but wasn’t able to again crack the barrier to directing. In I954 he directed the low budget Touch of Evil, which is now a cult film, but as far a Hollywood "A" films were considered, his career was over. His films seemed too strange; not “bankable” to the Hollywood moneymen who controlled the industry.
Welles was in some ways his own worst enemy, and when he should have remained in Hollywood to protect his interests, he was spending his time in Brazil partying on the government dime during WWII. He had a fantastic life as a young man of near genius intelligence; a friend of President Roosevelt, marrying the then-reigning sex goddess Rita Hayworth, and chasing women around the world. But he really wasted a lot of years when he could have made his bones in the industry.

Scenes from the movie: Original Trailer --- Praise for the Film --- Info on the Film -- News on the March