RKO 281 | Retro Junk

RKO 281

Release: November 20, 1999

Based in part on PBS/WGBH's The American Experience special "The Battle Over Citizen Kane". Orson Welles (Liev Schreiber), all charisma and stubborn vision, is signed to direct films for RKO Pictures with a startling amount of creative freedom. Welles decides to make production number 281 a disguised biopic of media tycoon William Randolph Hearst (James Cromwell), a film which would come to be known as "Citizen Kane." But Welles doesn't understand just how much clout Hearst yields. When he gets word of the unflattering production, Hearst does everything in his power to stop it.

Trailers

Promotional Trailer for the 2000 rental VHS/DVD (its own Screener VHS)

Quotes

Orson Welles: "I expected better of you, Mank."

Herman: "Me too, but I got used to it."

Added By: STHerbs97

William Randolph Hearst: "There is nothing to understand. Only this: I am a man who could have been great, but was not."

Added By: STHerbs97

Marion Davies: "[to Hearst] I swear: You and that guy Disney, in love with the damn rats."

Added By: STHerbs97

Herman Mankiewicz: "[in the lobby, opening night] (2x) Rosebud's a sled!"

Added By: STHerbs97

George Schaefer: "[about Orson] He shot five scenes - two with sound when he was only supposed to be doing a camera test!"

Added By: STHerbs97

Orson Welles: "[to George] Everything I am; Everything I could be is in that picture!"

Added By: STHerbs97

Orson Welles: "[addressing the RKO shareholders] Good afternoon: Today, a man from Germany invaded Greece; He's already swallowed Poland, Denmark, Norway and Belgium; He's bombing London as I speak. Everywhere this man goes, he crushes the life and the freedom of his subjects; He sews yellow stars on their lapels; He takes their voices. "

[⋯]: "In this country: we still have our voices. We can argue with them, and we can sing, and we can be heard because we are, for the moment, free. No one can tell us what to say or how to say it, can they? Gentlemen: I am one voice; that is all. My picture is one voice; one view; one opinion; nothing more. Men are dying in Europe now, and Americans soon will be so that we can surmount the tyrants and the dictators."

[⋯]: "Will you send a message across America that one man can take away our voices? so: Who is Mr. Hearst; and Who is Mr. Welles? Well: Mr. Hearst built a palace of brick and mortar, and little wars and corpses piled high; Mr. Welles built a palace of illusion. It's a; what we call a matte painting - it's a camera trick; it's nothing. Nothing but a dream. Today, you have the chance to let the dream triumph. Thank you."

Added By: STHerbs97

Epilogue (Text): "'Citizen Kane' was released in 1941 to critical acclaim and box office indifference." "William Randolph Hearst gradually withdrew from public life." "Marion Davies continued to live with him as his mistress." "Until his death in 1951, Hearst never permitted a single advertisement or review of 'Citizen Kane' in any of his newspapers."

[⋯]: "Orson Welles struggled yet succeeded in making films for the rest of his life, including 'The Magnificent Ambersons', 'Touch of Evil' and Chimes at Midnight'. He died in 1985." "'Citizen Kane' is widely considered the greatest American film ever made."

Added By: STHerbs97

Comments