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Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker’s Journey is a 2016 non-fiction book written by Harlan Lebo about the making of Citizen Kane, the motion picture produced, directed, co-written, and starring Orson Welles that is often ranked as the best film ever made.[1]

Citizen Kane has been explored extensively for more than seven decades in academic articles, critical studies, and biographies of Welles.[a] However, Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker’s Journey is notable for being the only non-fiction narrative book that is devoted specifically to telling the full story of the background, production, controversy, and release of the motion picture.[2][3][4]

Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker’s Journey has been acknowledged by critics and film writers for providing new factual insights about the creation of Citizen Kane based on previously unreleased material and eyewitness accounts.[2][3][4][5][6] Reviewers have also cited the book for clarifying several misconceptions and lingering inaccuracies about the film.[3][2][5][6]

Summary[edit]

Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker’s Journey highlights Welles' rise to stardom, the previously unheard-of creative control he received in his first Hollywood contract, studio infighting over the project at RKO Radio Pictures, the pressurized production schedule, the plot by the Hearst organization -- critical of the similarity between real-life publisher William Randolph Hearst and the character of Charles Foster Kane -- to suppress or destroy the film and discredit Welles, and the rise of Citizen Kane to the pinnacle of American motion pictures.[7]

New findings and differences from other research and published works[edit]

Relying heavily on previously unreleased documents and findings about the production of the film, the new material included in Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker’s Journey explores six main topics:[7]

Original script authorship[edit]

The long-debated question of who wrote Citizen Kane – was writer Herman Mankiewicz or Welles the sole writer, or did they share authorship – has simmered since before the film was released.

Welles' role as a co-author has long been established. However, Lebo's analysis of revisions made to supposedly final script, matched with newly-reported eyewitness accounts, showed that Welles had a much larger role in writing Citizen Kane than was previously understood: Lebo found that long after Mankiewicz was no longer involved in the project,[b] Welles added material to many existing scenes, and he also wrote several new scenes entirely from scratch -- some of them created only days before they were shot[8][9][10] (see "Last-Second Writing" below).

Previously-unreleased information from Welles’ assistant Kathryn Trosper[edit]

Several disclosures in Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker's Journey were brought to light through documents and quotations provided by Joe Popper and Laura Popper, the son and daughter of Kathryn (Trosper) Popper, Welles’ assistant during production of the film.[11][c]

Joe and Laura gave to Lebo anecdotes and eyewitness accounts from Kathryn, and comments from a taped interview with her by Joe (a retired reporter); particularly useful was a previously-unreleased seven-page memo prepared by Kathryn following a May 23, 1940 meeting between Welles, Mankiewicz, and John Houseman (Welles’ one-time New York creative partner who came to Hollywood to manage Mankiewicz and edit the early script drafts).[12]

Lebo wrote that although Trosper characterized the meeting as "friendly," she also described many disagreements between the three writers.[12] For instance, when describing the dialogue for the scene at the beginning of Kane’s control of the New York Inquirer and the disappearance of a “Mrs. Silverstone,” Trosper noted how each man felt about the scene:

SILVERSTONE SEQUENCE
Houseman: Too long.
Welles: Loves it.
Mank: It stinks![12]

Trosper’s notes show that in late May 1940 -- only a month before Welles hoped to begin shooting -- he was still struggling with his vision for the material, and would need to make significant revisions, refinements, and outright deletions of almost 100 pages.[12][d]

The “Lost” Correction Script[edit]

No previous book on Welles or study of Citizen Kane discusses the development of the script that occurred after the seven studio-approved drafts were completed.[13] However, Lebo’s research identified an additional, previously-unexplored draft that was prepared after the final shooting script; copies of the draft are now in the Special Collections Library at the University of Michigan and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. At MOMA, the file is called “Correction Script,” and the document is as close as possible to a final shooting script for Citizen Kane.

Lebo's comparison of this “lost” Correction Script – at 85 pages only a fraction of the length of the 156-page final[14] studio-approved version of the script -- shows that Welles had deleted many pages of unncessary dialogue and plot, and he also tightened many of the remaining scenes.

However, Lebo also shows that even with major editing, the Correction Script did not fix many problems and gaps that Welles still saw in the structure of the film -- problems that he would not resolve until even later in production.

Last-second writing[edit]

Lebo wrote that according to Trosper and assistant producer Richard Wilson, Welles continued his editing late in the shooting schedule; as during his earlier radio broadcasts, Welles often revised scenes or wrote new material at the last moment on the set during final rehearsals, sometimes working with actors to perfect the last version of a scene as they prepared to shoot.[e]

Based on Trosper's comments, Lebo wrote that Welles’ work on the script continued everywhere at the studio and at all hours: Trosper, who accompanied Welles every moment during production when he was not shooting or acting, went to the studio each morning to conduct business with Welles during his makeup sessions, sometimes arriving as early as 2 a.m., and often taking dictation for script revisions while Welles was being prepared for filming.[8]

New scenes written during production[edit]

Lebo’s research found that when the supposedly-final studio-approved version of the script was approved only a few days before production of Citizen Kane began in July 1940, several key scenes were not yet written.[15] Even the “Correction Script” which came later did not include the still-needed scenes.[9]

These missing scenes resulted in a critical flaw in the plot that had lingered for three months: earlier cuts made by Welles of poorly-written material in Mankiewicz's first drafts[f] had left gaps in Kane's personality and motivations.

To fill those gaps, Lebo explained that Welles wrote four new segments, all of which involved lawyer Thatcher and his interactions with Kane: the first, a sequence of Thatcher coldly dealing with the defiant Kane as a child;[15][g] the second, set years later with Thatcher in his office corresponding with the 25-year-old Kane about his finances (only to learn that Kane has no interest in his own fortune but is intrigued by the New York Inquirer because, he says, "I think it would be fun to run a newspaper.")[15][h]

The new scenes continue with seven vignettes of Thatcher reading Kane’s New York Inquirer and his growing disgust with Kane's sensationalist journalism.[i] The fourth new scene was set four decades later during the Depression when Kane, by then bankrupt, signs over his crumbling empire to Thatcher’s financial control.[j][k][l]

The Hearst conspiracy against Citizen Kane: new information[edit]

As usually reported, the eruption over Citizen Kane within the Hearst organization supposedly began after a rough cut of the film was viewed in January 1941 by Hollywood columnists Hedda Hopper[m] and Louella Parsons.

However, according to Lebo, the plot against Welles, RKO, and Citizen Kane began long before Hopper and Parsons saw the film. The Hearst organization -- working under the direction of the corporation’s senior leadership and with the knowledge of Hearst himself -- was already planning to disrupt the film: the plot had its origins more than four months earlier when Hearst officials, learning bits about the film's story from insiders, began to suspect that the Kane character was intended to be modeled on Hearst.[16][n]

Lebo found letters and memos in Hearst’s personal papers that, combined with period news accounts, reveal the extent of the thoroughly-planned conspiracy to suppress the film’s release[16][17]: the Hearst organization schemed with movie theater executives to prevent exhibition; blocked ads in Hearst publications for RKO films; banned all mention of Citizen Kane; attempted to buy and destroy the original film negative; threatened to expose private foibles of Hollywood executives and stars; and used its newspapers to discredit Welles, attempted to frame him for statutory rape, and investigate him for potential draft-dodging.[16][17]

Lebo describes correspondence from Parsons, a supposedly-objective journalist, reporting to Hearst management about her active participation in the conspiracy that included pressuring studio executives to encourage RKO to shelve the film, and threatening theater owners with boycotts of coverage in her column if they screened Citizen Kane.[18]

Red-baiting by Hearst[edit]

Lebo also found evidence that the Hearst organization colluded with Congressional investigators who were hunting Communists in Hollywood: correspondence in the Hearst files showed company executives describing Welles as being "a pretty bad boy" who was "mixed up with the Leftists;" as a result, the company aided in attempts to red-bait Welles and his associates."[16]

The Hearst-Kane comparison[edit]

Most film historians agree that publisher William Randolph Hearst was the principal model for the fictional Charles Foster Kane. However, Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker's Journey provides evidence that counters the common assumption that Kane's character was based solely on the real-life Hearst, and describes many differences -- both personal and professional -- between Hearst and Kane.

However, Lebo also points that whether Kane was based solely or partially on Hearst, the most volatile evidence that supported the plot by the Hearst organization to suppress Citizen Kane were images and dialogue in the fictional "News on the March" newsreel that appeared in the first 10 minutes of the film, as witnessed by Hopper, Parsons, and Hearst lawyers who went to screenings already assuming that Kane was Hearst.[g]

These scenes in the "News on the March" newsreel identify Kane as a newspaper baron who owned a hilltop palace with its own private zoo, who acquired a huge art collection, and who urged his country into the Spanish-American War[o] -- all high-visibility real-life facts about Hearst as well -- followed 15 minutes later by conversations between Kane and lawyer Thatcher that included comments lifted directly from Hearst’s life.[p] After viewing those scenes, for Hopper, Parsons, and the Hearst lawyers, any evidence in the film that pointed to other possible models for Kane was irrelevant.

Reception[edit]

Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker’s Journey received positive reviews, with critics citing the book for its comprehensive narrative, readability, clarifying misconceptions and inaccuracies, and new information about the film.[3][2][5][19][20][6]

Kirkus Reviews, describing at the book overall, said, "Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker's Journey is everything you wanted to know about the greatest film of all time – and then some."[3] The New York Times also focused on the comprehensive content, saying that the book was “The most thorough account yet of the genesis, production, and release of Welles's most famous film. . .it’s never been presented this comprehensively.”[2]

Of the research, Booklist (American Library Association) wrote, the book “reveals previously unpublished details about the extraordinary lengths that press lord William Randolph Hearst -- the main inspiration for the Kane character played by Welles -- went to suppress the film.”[6]

Background[edit]

Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker’s Journey is Lebo’s second book on the film; his first, a photo-focused coffee table book titled, Citizen Kane: A 50th Anniversary Album, was published in 2001.

Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker’s Journey was published by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press in April 2016 to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the release of the film.[q]

Lebo, a senior fellow in the Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, writes about sciences, the humanities, society, and digital technology.[21] Lebo has also written books about Casablanca, and The Godfather – which along with Citizen Kane, represent the three top movies in the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 greatest motion pictures of all time.[1]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ In addition to many biographies of Welles, other non-fiction books that provide background and context on the production of Citizen Kane are The Making of Citizen Kane by Robert Carringer (a scholarly perspective on the creation of the film, and the definitive analysis of the seven official drafts of the script), Perspectives on Citizen Kane by Ronald Gottesman, which includes reviews, critical essays, and Carringer's analysis of the script drafts, and Orson Welles' Citizen Kane: A Casebook. by James Naremore.
  2. ^ Mankiewicz left the production no later than July 27, 1940, and the new scenes were not written until late September and shot in the first two weeks of October.
  3. ^ Trosper later married Martin Popper, who was the co-chief defense counsel for the Hollywood Ten. He defended Dalton Trumbo and John Howard Lawson, who were convicted in 1950 of contempt of Congress for refusing to declare whether they were Communists. In 1961, Popper himself was convicted of the same offense. Kathryn died March 6, 2016 -- at age 100 the oldest and longest surviving cast member from Citizen Kane.
  4. ^ Trosper noted a comment from Welles: "One of the great troubles with the script is that we are showing a man who has failed in his ambitions on his own terms -- showing a technical matter rather than a tangible thing such as being dispossessed. Ten million unemployed cannot sympathize with a man who has lost only by his own standards, and can be presented only as a fact of interest rather than a point of sympathy. We create a situation of interest in the News Digest (later renamed News on the March) and render it sympathetic in the last reel of the picture."
  5. ^ A particularly vivid example of last-minute rewriting that was likely done on set was the scene of Susan Alexander rehearsing her singing with Matiste, her voice coach, and her vain attempt to hit a high note. In every version of the script, the scene began with Susan singing and Matiste shouting, "Impossible! Impossible!" The scene as rewritten by Welles transformed the two lines into a much longer, seemingly spontaneous, and thoroughly realistic encounter in which Matiste coaches and sings in time with the music while Susan tries to perform. (“Please look at me, Mrs. Kane darling — now, get the voice, out of the throat, place the tone, right in the mask. . .”). (Time in the film: 1:26:41 - 1:29:07)
  6. ^ Kathryn Trosper Popper, in a recorded interview with her son, Joe (a retired reporter), recalled that more than once, Welles reviewed a week's worth of work produced by Herman Mankiewicz and Houseman, and told her, "this stuff stinks."
  7. ^ a b Time in the film: 0:23:07 - 0:23:17
  8. ^ Time in the film: 0:23:18 - 0:24:12
  9. ^ Time in the film: 0:24:13 - 0:24:43
  10. ^ Time in the film: 0:27:15 - 0:29:43.
  11. ^ The rush of preparing for last-minute shooting can be better understood by reviewing the production files for Citizen Kane, in September and October 1940, which show many new budget authorizations for sets and casting that were not part of the original budget, along with daily production reports that report the filming of these scenes only days later. These files are in the UCLA Library Special Collections.
  12. ^ Lebo's review of the Citizen Kane production files showed that the result of Welles writing entirely new scenes -- each requiring sets and performers not used for any other shots on the production schedule -- meant that the RKO staff had to produce all of the filmmaking elements just days before they were filmed, including the on-the-fly preparation of new set designs, construction, costumes, and casting.
  13. ^ Mankiewicz wrote to critic Alexander Woollcott, “It is my opinion that Mr. Hearst, who is smart about these things, would have ignored Citizen Kane, positively and negatively, had he been given the chance. But this behavior was denied him chiefly because of an idiot named Louella Parsons and a very smart woman named Hedda Hopper.”
  14. ^ Especially illuminating information about the Hearst conspiracy against Citizen Kane is found in the William Randolph Hearst Papers in the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley. Particularly noteworthy are letters and memos by Richard Berlin, in 1941 the head of Hearst's magazine division and (working with Hearst's personal assistant Joseph Willicombe) the primary staff member responsible for coordinating the attack on the film. Also of special interest in those files are letters and memos from columnist Louella Parsons, whose active role suppressing Citizen Kane -- including threats to studio and theater chiefs to prevent the film's screening -- demonstrates how far beyond the bounds of responsible journalism she was willing to go.
  15. ^ Time in film: 0:00:36 - 0:12:26
  16. ^ Time in film: 0:24:44 - 0:27:44: Lebo wrote that in a confrontation between Thatcher and Kane in the New York Inquirer office, Thatcher overhears Kane's response to a cable from "Wheeler," his correspondent in Cuba, who could not find signs of a military uprising against Spanish rule. “You provide the prose poems,” Kane replied, “I’ll provide the war.” The statement reprised a much-cited exchange between Hearst and artist Frederic Remington, who before the Spanish-American War was Hearst’s correspondent in Cuba. When Remington did not find bloodshed or atrocities, he wired to Hearst, “Everything quiet. There is no trouble here. There will be no more. I wish to return.” Instead of recalling him, Hearst wired back, “Please remain. You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war.” Then moments later, when Thatcher warns the young publisher that he is losing $1 million a year by operating the Inquirer, Kane says, “At the rate of a million dollars a year, I’ll have to close this place in . . . sixty years.” The line, famous in newspaper circles, came from a comment by Hearst’s mother, Phoebe, who was asked about her son losing $1 million a year on his San Francisco Examiner and New York Journal and replied, “At that rate, he’ll last thirty years.”
  17. ^ Citizen Kane premiered on May 1, 1941, at the Palace Theatre in New York City.

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References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "AFI's 100 Greatest Films of All Time". AFI. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker's Journey". The New York Times. June 1, 2016. Retrieved March 25, 2018. Cite error: The named reference "NYT" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c d e "Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker's Journey/". Kirkus Reviews. January 26, 2016. Retrieved March 24, 2018. Cite error: The named reference "Kirkus" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Thornell, Peter (February 15, 2016). "Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker's Journey". Library Journal (reported in BookVerdict.com). Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Foran, Chris (April 7, 2016). ""Filmmaker's Journey' puts deep focus on Orson Welles, 'Citizen Kane'"". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d "Review: Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker's Journey". Booklist (American Library Association)Online Exclusive. March 17, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Summary: Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker's Journey". Google Books. April 26, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  8. ^ a b (Trosper) Popper, Kathryn. "Notes from interview by Joe Popper, provided to author Harlan Lebo by Joe Popper and Laura Popper".
  9. ^ a b Richard Wilson -- Orson Welles Papers, 1930-2000, Special Collections Library, University of Michigan. "Late Script for Citizen Kane, no cover or date (same document at the Museum of Modern Art called Correction Script)". {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Special Collections Library, UCLA. "Budget and Daily Production Reports". RKO Radio Pictures, Files for Citizen Kane, May 1940-January 1941. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  11. ^ Cheng, Cheryl (March 8, 2016). "Kathryn Trosper Popper, Last Living 'Citizen Kane' Castmember, Dies at 100". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  12. ^ a b c d (Trosper) Popper, Kathryn (May 23, 1940). "Notes from meeting with Orson Welles, Herman Mankiewicz, and John Houseman, provided to author Harlan Lebo by Joe Popper and Laura Popper".
  13. ^ Carringer, Robert (Winter 1978). "The Scripts of Citizen Kane". Critical Inquiry, Volume 5, Number 2. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  14. ^ Special Collections Library, UCLA. "Third Revised Final Script of Citizen Kane, cover dated July 16, 1940". RKO Radio Pictures, Files for Citizen Kane, May 1940-January 1941. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  15. ^ a b c Special Collections Library, UCLA. "Cutting Continuity of Citizen Kane, cover dated February 21, 1941". RKO Radio Pictures, Files for Citizen Kane, May 1940-January 1941. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help) Cite error: The named reference "Productionfilescontinuity" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  16. ^ a b c d Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley. "Letter from Richard Berlin to Joseph Willicombe, January 2, 1941". William Randolph Hearst Papers. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help) Cite error: The named reference "Hearstbancroft" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  17. ^ a b Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley. "Letter from Richard Berlin to Joseph Willicombe, January 21, 1941, and related correspondence". William Randolph Hearst Papers. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  18. ^ Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley. "Multiple letters and memos from Louella Parsons to Joseph Willicombe, January and February, 1941". William Randolph Hearst Papers. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  19. ^ Thornell, Peter (February 15, 2016). "Review: Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker's Journey". Library Journal (reported in BookVerdict.com). Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  20. ^ "Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker's Journey". Publisher's Weekly. February 8, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  21. ^ "Center for the Digital Future at USC Annenberg". Senior Fellows page, Center for the Digital Future. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
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