Citizen Kane revisited

Citizen Kane, the work of boy genius Orson Welles, was many things. It was a modern cinematic wonder, deemed by many to be the greatest film of all time; it was one of the most controversial films in history, causing such a social uproar that it was banned from theatres until the 1970’s; and it was an example of a personal vendetta against a highly visible figure in the public eye being carried out on screen, for millions to see and judge. The story behind Citizen Kane is fascinating, depressing, heroic, and largely true. Kane was Welles’ first and last major Hollywood film and will go down in history as a cataclysmic collision between two powerful forces; Orson Welles, producer extraordinaire; and Randolph Hearst, publishing czar.

The story starts with Randolph Hearst, son of publishing giant George Hearst. Randolph inherited a small news paper in San Francisco (The San Francisco Chronicle) while in his early 20’s, and turned it into an empire. Hearst’s papers were once the most widely distributed and best selling in the country, and were inexplicably influential as a source of truth for the American public. In fact, the papers were so influential that at their pinnacle, even the President recognized their power to make or break anyone in the public eye. Randolph Hearst was one of the wealthiest men in the country and had a penchant for material possessions and women to be topped by no one. Hearst bought an estate in the southern California town of San Simeon, and turned it into something out of a fairytale. Complete with an elaborate mansion; a full-scale zoo; and an art collection that encompassed nearly 25% of the world’s private art; San Simeon soon became legendary. In his later years, Hearst became a recluse and rarely left the grounds of his paradise. He died in Beverly Hills in 1951.

Orson Welles had been deemed a “genius” since childhood, and later developed into one of the most prolific producers of theatrical performances in the country. Welles is credited with producing perhaps the greatest renditions of classical Shakespeare in U.S. history, and gained nation wide fame with his War of the Worlds radio stunt, which fabricated a story that aliens had landed on earth and were waging war with the U.S. army. Word of Wells’ talent soon spread, and Hollywood gave him an unheard of deal to produce any movie he wanted to make withy an unlimited budget at his disposal. Critics met Wells with much skepticism since he came from theatre and had yet to make a single film.

Citizen Kane was the result of Welles’ joining forces with co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz, to attack the character of Randolph Hearst. In Wells’ opinion, Hearst had risen to a level of corruptive power that the nation needed to know about, and Kane was to be the microscope that gazed into the private life of the nation’s most powerful figure. Much of what is depicted about Hearst in Kane was well known at the time of the making of the movie; however, Wells took some liberties in characterizing issues such as Hearst’s relationship with and treatment of his wife, chorus girl Millicent Vernica Willson. Things came to a head when gossip columnist Louella Parsons sat in on a private screening of Kane and informed Hearst of the films negative portrayal of his lifestyle. Upon hearing the news, Hearst attempted to purchase the original film reels from Wells so that the film would never be publicly shown, but Wells refused to hand them over. This prompted Hearst to publish articles in his papers accusing Wells of being connected to communism, which struck fear in movie houses and lead to refuse to show Kane. Eventually, the word was out as to just how angry Hearst was over the biographically damning film, and Kane was put on the shelves, to be kept sacred and banned from public release.

It wasn’t until the death of Hearst that Citizen Kane resurfaced and was released in major theatres across the nation. Finally, movie goers and film critics had the chance to witness not only the story of Randolph Hearst, but to marvel at the ground breaking film style of Welles, whose cinematic brilliance was decades ahead of its time. Kane was soon regarded by many critics as the greatest film of all time, and gained all of the acclaim it deserved years prior. Unfortunately for Welles, he had gone underground as an independent producer, working mainly in Europe on obscure B movies that never reached America. He returned to the US to revive his career, but found it difficult to get funding to make the movies he desired to make. Welles died in 1985 at age 70 with Citizen Kane under his belt as his one and only block buster achievement. The boy genius turned rebel film maker had martyred himself for artistic freedom and paid with his career.

Who won the battle? Well, that’s for us to decide. Kane unveiled many stone cold truths about the life and times of Randolph Hearst and his legacy, but Hearst turned Wells’ into a one hit wonder with a reputation for being a communist. We will always have Citizen Kane as a reminder of what Welles could have accomplished with his brilliant film style, and The Hearst Castle is now a museum, where the public can wonder at the gaudy treasures attained by the former king of media. If nothing else, the battle between Wells and Hearst serves as an example of how passionate pursuit of a dream can make an eternal imprint on the fabric of culture. If either man was hear to speak for himself, I tend to think he would agree.