Citizen Kane
called Citizen Kane the greatest cinematic achievement of alltime. It is indeed a true masterpiece of acting, screen writing, anddirecting. Orson Welles, its young genius director, lead actor, and a co-writer, used the best talents and techniques of the day (Bordwell 103) totell the story of a newspaper giant, Charles Kane, through the eyes of thepeople who loved and hated him. However, when it came out, it was scornedby Hollywood and viewed only in the private theaters of RKO, the producer. Nominated for nine Academy Awards, it was practically booed off the stage,and only won one award, that for Best Screenplay, which Welles and HermanMankiewicz shared (Mulvey 10). This was all due to the pressure applied bythe greatest newspaper man of the time, one of the most powerful men in thenation, the man Citizen Kane portrayed as a corrupt power monger, namely One cannot ignore the striking similarities between Hearst and Kane. Inorder to make clear at the outset exactly what he intended to do, OrsonWelles included a few details about the young Kane that, given even arudimentary knowledge of Hearst's life, would have set one thinking aboutthe life of that newspaper giant. Shortly after t
Right before his campaign for governor,Kane met a pretty, young opera singer named Susan Alexander and enteredinto a relationship with her. Lelandcontinued Bernstein's stories of Kane's belief in the ability to purchaselove, and hinted at the one overwhelming thing about him, the absoluteenigma he posed to even his closest friends. Among all the junk Kane had collected, lay a tiny wooden sled, the one fromthe day when Thatcher took him away from his mother, which was hauled offand thrown into the fire. The next scene opens with Leland, one of Kane's only friends. This plothaving failed, RKO was blacklisted by the gigantic Hearst press and had toshow the movie in private theaters. First, as statedbefore, Hearst loved to embellish and exaggerate the news to getcirculation. All in all, Orson Welles directed, starred in, and helped to writepossibly the greatest film of all time, all to one purpose, to denounceWilliam Randolph Hearst and all men who were abusive of power and thepublic trust. Hearst was a man who discovered the powerhe controlled and then proceeded to abuse it, a practice Welles foundintolerable. Hearst did likewise,ending his earlier practices of obtaining good men at any cost. Hearst, who was an incredibleegomaniac, shared the same beliefs. Davies never went to such lengths, but found thepressure somewhat hampering. Leland told of Kane's arguments with his wife, which climaxed withKane's ultimate statement of his belief in his own omnipotence. Hearst soughtpublic office after his dominance over the newspaper world was assured. Upon closer examination, the word "Rosebud" canbe made out as it is slowly incinerated.
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Acceptance Essays
