Citizen Kane Orson Welles

rko rejected welles s first 2 movie proposals, agreed on third offer—citizen kane. welles co-wrote, produced , directed film, , performed lead role. welles conceived project screenwriter herman j. mankiewicz, writing radio plays campbell playhouse. mankiewicz based original outline on life of william randolph hearst, whom knew socially , came hate after being exiled hearst s circle.

after agreeing on storyline , character, welles supplied mankiewicz 300 pages of notes , put him under contract write first draft screenplay under supervision of john houseman. welles wrote own draft, drastically condensed , rearranged both versions , added scenes of own. industry accused welles of underplaying mankiewicz s contribution script, welles countered attacks saying, @ end, naturally, 1 making picture, after all—who had make decisions. used wanted of mank s and, rightly or wrongly, kept liked of own.

welles s project attracted of hollywood s best technicians, including cinematographer gregg toland. cast, welles used actors mercury theatre. filming citizen kane took ten weeks.

hearst s newspapers barred reference citizen kane , exerted enormous pressure on hollywood film community force rko shelve film. rko chief george schaefer received cash offer mgm s louis b. mayer , other major studio executives if destroy negative , existing prints of film.

while waiting citizen kane released, welles produced , directed original broadway production of native son, drama written paul green , richard wright based on wright s novel. starring canada lee, show ran march 24 – june 28, 1941, @ st. james theatre. mercury production last time welles , houseman worked together.

citizen kane given limited release , film received overwhelming critical praise. voted best picture of 1941 national board of review , new york film critics circle. film garnered 9 academy award nominations won best original screenplay, shared mankiewicz , welles. variety reported block voting screen extras deprived citizen kane of oscars best picture , best actor (welles), , similar prejudices have been responsible film receiving no technical awards.

the delay in film s release , uneven distribution contributed mediocre results @ box office. after ran course theatrically, citizen kane retired vault in 1942. in postwar france, however, film s reputation grew after seen first time in 1946. in united states, began re-evaluated after began appear on television in 1956. year re-released theatrically, , film critic andrew sarris described great american film , work influenced cinema more profoundly american film since birth of nation. citizen kane hailed 1 of greatest films ever made.