Citizen Kane Research

The battle over Citizen Kane

• the timing of the film allowed it to have more influence
• 1993 was the time of cinematic/film explosion
• Wells hadn’t even made a movie before Citizen Kane which gave him enough arrogance to actually make the film, cluelessness also contributing to him making the film
• at the time, movies where more powerful than newspapers
• William Hurst had and obsession with films and plays
• he would hire people to go out and make news for him to publish and to see reactions
• William would attack people in “sustained, ferocius, and concentrated” forms and had and obsession with power
• well’s mother and father died when he was at a young age and at boarding school

DocudramaRKO 281

Orson Wells interview

• people tried to stop the filming of Citizen Kane because of the topics in the film
• the character in Citizen Kane was made to represent different people
• Citizen Kane was made as an attack on social problems occurring at the time
• the film was banned in the soviet union because of the topics of the film
• lack of experience in filming allowed for more ideas that would be frowned upon by others in the filming industry
• because of the topics of the film the director was rejected and cut, making it harder to show the film