The Battle Over Citizen Kane

• 1939- Hollywood at the top of its game
• Movie was almost destroyed before people got the chance to see it
• William Randolph Hearst
• Had women collapse in streets, people on a ferry jump overboard, etc. just to observe and see who would rescue them
• Career built on controversy- thought. the controversy that would stem from this would be beneficial
• A genius at the age of 3
• Parents separated at 6 – both parents later died when he was very young, sent to boarding school
• “A preposterous energy pulsating through everything he did.”
• 4 men attacked him outside the theater
• Rode by ambulance
• Make up shows as he went
• Unbound by rules – Orson would break a rule if he thought he needed to

DocudramaRKO 281

• Boy wonder- write, direct, and star in his own films
• Movies are about life’s rich pageant
• Magic
• Not about selling popcorn and Pepsi colas

Orson Welles Interview on Citizen Kane

• Was intended as a social attack on an inquisitive society
• Attack on property and corruption
• Didn’t really want to make a film
• He didn’t want money he wanted authority
• Tried everything from sentimental tricks to an attempt at genuine humanity to keep a counterbalance
• Denied “cutting room,” he didn’t get the chance to edit