Film of the Week: Citizen Kane, 1941

“Well, hooray for the Bulldog.”
--Dorothy Comingore as Susan Alexander Kane

With one single word, the most famous word in film history, “Rosebud,” Citizen Kane grew into a tremendous topiary and, despite its few detractors, is considered one of the greatest achievements in world cinema.

The brainchild of Orson Welles, known to most of the U.S. at the time for his popular (and controversial radio program) “The Mercury Theater on the Air,” Citizen Kane not only starred Welles alongside his trusted “Mercury Players,” but was directed, produced and even written by him (with additional dialogue by with Herman K. Mankiewicz). Since its 1941 debut, the picture has been considered one of the most visually beautiful and technically innovative of its time as well as one of the greatest cinematic achievements in history.

This was Orson Welles entre into cinema and established his reputation as a genius, but also made him almost unemployable because of the countless controversies surrounding the creation of the picture. To begin with, the plot—the story of a wealthy man whose raw emotions, drive, ego and insecurities drive him to become one of the most powerful men in the world—closely mirrored (not accidentally) the life of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. Hearst was not the sort of man that one would wish to tangle with. As publisher of the nation’s largest newspapers, when he heard of Welles’ project, he prohibited any advertisements for the film from running in any of his newspapers.

Nevertheless, the film was a critical triumph. Of course, making it wasn’t such an easy process. Welles certainly had a top-notch cast with his “Mercury Players” including Joseph Cotton, Agnes Moorehead, Dorothy Comingore. George Coulouris, Ray Collins and the late Ruth Warrick (known best to current audiences as Phoebe Tyler Wallingford on All My Children). Each delivers exceptional performances. I am especially fond of Dorothy Comingore’s portrayal of Susan Alexander, Kane’s second wife, who varies between vulnerability and brashness with the blink of an eye. When she frowns slightly and mutters, “You never give me anything I really want,” she more clearly shows her digust with the man she once found so enchanting than if she had screamed the eight words at the top of her lungs.

Hearst tried to block the production at every turn, even trying to get all the prints of the picture destroyed. Having failed at halting production, Hearst tried to pressure theater owners from showing the film. Ultimately, Welle’s was successful and the film was given surprisingly good reviews. Still, despite its masterful cinematography, brilliant performances, poetic script, majestic sets and sweeping score, the picture lost money.

Nevertheless, Welles was still a hot commodity. Having conquered stage and radio, his path in film seemed clear. His next project, The Magnificent Ambersons, was expected to be another triumph and the studio hoped I would make up the losses from Citizen Kane. However, it was a terrible failure, and soon, Welles found that he was almost unemployable.

All that aside, the picture will remain one of the finest of the classic films. An amazing symphony of images and dialgoue, the film draws you in and doesn’t release you from its deep focus until the very end.