I consider myself a dedicated historian. I'm not a professional, but I spent much of my time since I was under 10 researching history (something I am almost sure is unheard of otherwise). So I consider myself a dedicated historian. I also love film, probably more than can be considered healthy. And quite often, I find a film that has a pretty fascinating history behind its making. It's always interesting to see what happens behind the scenes, but some movie's had some internal power struggle, studio meddling of epic proportions, major fuck-ups that almost destroyed the film, etc. that put them above the rest. And the movie I'm talking about today is Citizen Kane.
Now, talking about Citizen Kane might seem clichéd, but it's so hard not to talk about it, being the greatest movie of all time and all. And just the history behind Citizen Kane's making is enough to qualify it as the greatest movie of all time. Particularly the controversy it sparked over the portrayal of William Randolph Hearst, the man the Film's Titular character Charles Foster Kane was based on. This story is about a battle between two huge egos, one trying to bury the other for even daring to negatively portray him, and the other that figured he was beyond his reach. The battle over Citizen Kane.
The Players
First, let's talk about the main players in this battle behind the scenes. Let's start with William Randolph Hearst.
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was the most powerful Newspaper Tycoon in America during the time Citizen Kane was made. He started his career by persuading his dad to let him have an old newspaper building he just so happened to own. And if Dear old Willie wanted cake, he got that fuckin' cake. He was a spoiled little shit. He immediately began writing sensationalist news story's. He even made up story's just for his paper to report on. He'd pay some woman in the street to collapse, or get one of his staff to jump off a ship, then he'd come and report abut it. He also managed to gain quite the audience by attacking his enemies with vicious ferocity. Sounds pretty fucked to me, but it worked. He eventually became the most powerful newspaper tycoon in America and he had a friggin' palace half the size of Rhode Island filled with countless statues and arts from around the world, his own private zoo, and you can only imagine what else. And he had so much power that if he didn't like you, if were famous and didn't show up to one of his party's, or if you just looked at him funny, he'd bury you so fast nobody would know you even existed. Quite the ego he had going there.
Orson Welles
Orson Welles was in his teens when he went to New York. During the 30's, he directed adaptations of Shakespeare plays with black actors that couldn't read Shakespeare and he was a big radio jockey that managed to fool the whole country into thinking Martians were invading during a War of the Worlds segment in 1938. He also had a reputation for pushing his actors to the breaking point. He apparently didn't physically assault anyone, but I bet he would have if he could. Hell, he probably did. Orson was an arrogant son of a bitch who thought controversy would be more beneficial to him. It's this same theory that had communists framing him for shit, got him attacked by four guys outside his own theatre, and tricked the whole country into thinking there was a Martian invasion. But, it worked. He was always big news and people always said that he had this inspiring, preposterous energy about him. And he was a major success in both theatre and radio. And the fact that a guy with no experience with media in any form could make such an impact right off the bat was astounding. Man, things are not what they used to be. The early 1900's were the shit. Well, except for the World Wars.
Battle of the Ego's
Well, now that we know a little bit about the players in this battle of Ego's, let's talk about the battle itself. When RKO offered Orson Welles full creative control over a film project of his choice, Orson decided to do Citizen Kane, a movie based on Hearst's life. And remember, Orson liked tackling controversial projects. When he took on Citizen Kane, he knew Hearst would come after him. But he was also an arrogant bastard, so he figured he could win in a fight against Hearst. When Hearst sat down and watched the movie, he flipped shit. He swore he'd bury this film and fuck up Orson Welles' career.
In Citizen Kane there are many references to Hearst's life. Let's list a few of them:
- Charlie Kane is a powerful Newspaper Tycoon.
- Kane started out writing sensationalist news, and attacked his enemies viciously.
- Kane claimed to be working for the working man but became a corrupt asshole.
- Kane lived in a palace.
- Kane collected arts from around the world just because he could.
There are many references to Hearst in the movie, and Hearst felt this was an affront to him. But, I think the thing that got him the most was the very first word said in the movie, "Rosebud". If you're wandering why, that is apparently the name Hearst gave to his girlfriend's vagina. I don't remember where I heard this from, but after hearing this I just can't take that word seriously anymore (How the hell did Orson even find out about that?). Just try watching the movie knowing what Rosebud was to Hearst.
I love riding my Rosebud.
And speaking of Hearst, he was pissed. He had his newspaper boycott the film. He made sure the film won no Oscars, and he even offered to buy all the reels from RKO so he could destroy them Office Space style.
Orson Welles strategy blew up in his face. After the controversy of Kane, he was never offered full creative control again. Citizen Kane started Orson's Hollywood career, but also effectively ended it. Meanwhile, Hearst continued to make sure his name was never associated with Kane. He wanted to make absolutely 100% sure that when he died, Citizen Kane was not going to be remembered. But as fate would have it, once Hearst died, Citizen Kane came into the spotlight. Since then, Citizen Kane has become famous for being the #1 Greatest Movie of all time. It's #1 on AFI's list, and countless other lists I'm sure. And now whenever somebody mentions William Randolph Hearst, they automatically think of Kane. Probably because he made such a big deal out of it being based on his life. So in the end, Hearst's strategy also blew up in his face. Oh if only he could see the irony of his fruitless efforts.
Who Won?
So who ultimately won the battle over Citizen Kane? Hearst certainly didn't win. All that effort just to have his name be associated with the movie he tried to bury. Orson Welles did make the movie, but it also destroyed his career. So I can't say he won. If anything, the movie itself and whatever studio is still making money off it won.
*All info in this article is from the Documentary "The Battle Over Citizen Kane"
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