Citizen Kane Outline
1. Orson Welles/Mercury Theater
a.Notoriety
b.RKO Contract
i.Hollywood Response
ii.Total Control
1.Budget sign-off
2.Script
a.Herman Mankiewicz
i.Past Successes
ii.Reputation
b.Sequestration
i.John Housman
ii.First Draft
c.Revisons/Welles
3.Production
a.Craftsman
i.Camera: Toland
1.Deep focus
2.Low Angles
ii.Production Design
iii.Sound
1.Overlapping Dialogue
2.Scene Bridges
iv.Music: Bernard Herrman
1.2 repeated themes
a.Destiny (Kane)
b.Rosebud
v.Editing: Robert Wise (Mark Robson)
vi.Makeup
b.Artistry
4.Controversy/William Randolph Hearst
a.Script Release
b.Parsons/Hopper
c.LB Mayer/Studio Executives
i.Industry Wide boycott
d.RKO Board/Schaefer
i.Shareholders: Rockefeller/Oldham (?)
e.Hearst Organization
i.No mention for 8 months
ii.Threats
5.Post Production/Release
a.Release Date Changes
b.Private Screenings
c.Positive Reviews
i.Luce Magazines (Time & Life)
ii.Non-Hearst Papers
d.Limited Theatres
6.Ramifications
a.Profit/Loss ($150,000)
b.Schaefer ousted
c.Welles Position
i.It’s All True
ii.Ambersons
d.RKO (Bankruptcy/Howard Hughes)
7.Legacy
a.Removed from Distribution
b.1952 top 10 List
c.Late ‘50’s French
d.1962 Sight & Sound Poll
Sources:
The Brothers Mankiewicz: Hope, Heartbreak & Hollywood Classics. Sydney Ladensohn Stern. University Press of Mississippi. 2019.
Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker’s Journey. Harlan Lebo. Thomas Dunne Books. St. Martin’s Press. 2016.
Raising Kane & Other Essays. Pauline Kael. Marion Boyers Publishing. 1996.
RKO: The Biggest Little Major of Them All. Betty Lasky. Roundtable Publishing. 1989.
The Making of Citizen Kane. Robert L. Carringer. University of California Press. Revised Edition 1996.
This is Orson Welles. Orson Welles & Peter Bogdanovich. Harper Collins. 1993.
1. Orson Welles/Mercury Theater
a.Notoriety
b.RKO Contract
i.Hollywood Response
ii.Total Control
1.Budget sign-off
2.Script
a.Herman Mankiewicz
i.Past Successes
ii.Reputation
b.Sequestration
i.John Housman
ii.First Draft
c.Revisons/Welles
3.Production
a.Craftsman
i.Camera: Toland
1.Deep focus
2.Low Angles
ii.Production Design
iii.Sound
1.Overlapping Dialogue
2.Scene Bridges
iv.Music: Bernard Herrman
1.2 repeated themes
a.Destiny (Kane)
b.Rosebud
v.Editing: Robert Wise (Mark Robson)
vi.Makeup
b.Artistry
4.Controversy/William Randolph Hearst
a.Script Release
b.Parsons/Hopper
c.LB Mayer/Studio Executives
i.Industry Wide boycott
d.RKO Board/Schaefer
i.Shareholders: Rockefeller/Oldham (?)
e.Hearst Organization
i.No mention for 8 months
ii.Threats
5.Post Production/Release
a.Release Date Changes
b.Private Screenings
c.Positive Reviews
i.Luce Magazines (Time & Life)
ii.Non-Hearst Papers
d.Limited Theatres
6.Ramifications
a.Profit/Loss ($150,000)
b.Schaefer ousted
c.Welles Position
i.It’s All True
ii.Ambersons
d.RKO (Bankruptcy/Howard Hughes)
7.Legacy
a.Removed from Distribution
b.1952 top 10 List
c.Late ‘50’s French
d.1962 Sight & Sound Poll
Sources:
The Brothers Mankiewicz: Hope, Heartbreak & Hollywood Classics. Sydney Ladensohn Stern. University Press of Mississippi. 2019.
Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker’s Journey. Harlan Lebo. Thomas Dunne Books. St. Martin’s Press. 2016.
Raising Kane & Other Essays. Pauline Kael. Marion Boyers Publishing. 1996.
RKO: The Biggest Little Major of Them All. Betty Lasky. Roundtable Publishing. 1989.
The Making of Citizen Kane. Robert L. Carringer. University of California Press. Revised Edition 1996.
This is Orson Welles. Orson Welles & Peter Bogdanovich. Harper Collins. 1993.