The Ranger

              -tJovernber 19, 1971 THE RANGER 3
~--'Citizen Kane'
Editor'• not•: This 1,. the nut
rlt-~ at thr~t artt~les on
1• 1 st w,iit,' •'Citizen Ka.nett
Or>OII
nolP that there contains no hint
as to lhP st111tftranc:e ot "rose­bud"
the ultimate biography--
BY CIIARLES DECKER
•C1t1 .. n Kane," Orson Welles '
Jt ma&trrplt•t"fo, h..l~ had a pro-..
nr 11 ~od tmmtasunhle tnnu­::
un ..,0 rtd cinema. Of all
truly ,,eat flint< ~ertatnly
::, used lhP- mPctiurn v.tth more
"~t~ely consider<-<! thPgreatcst
n1m or tbe ""un,1 l'('rtod, "Ctt1,en
1(a.nt" his mar~ than done Its
duly to au,ln o.nd maintain that
1tc!lt at thr top In the n rst
ian of lhts strlrs, I propose to
tons on tbe struJIIP to bring
''ClHten Kane'' to the screen.
11 subsequent artlcles the tnno­nU••
methodS used will be dis­run,
d, Ille overall effect or the
r,tm •Ill ix, dissected and the
fllm in ,ener>I will be> explored
FILM BACKGROUND
11 setms almost Impossible to
•• tbat same people never have
$N'll or at least heard discussed
fM! story behind HCittten K2ne"
i,,, tor thos• who are completely
~rant of the background of the
ftlm 1 suppose a synopsis Is to
ordtr
Nt•spaper magnate Charles
ro&ttr Kau dies lo bis Immense
piLlct X•n1du and u11ers his
dy1nt ,.'Ord "rosebud" A irroup
or rtporters attempting to re­coostnlct
bfs !He In a newsreel
"I dreamed I saw
Joe Hill last night.
Fasclnoted wuh the subiecl,
on~ reporter st't'ks to uncover the
meanlnr and 1ntrrvtrws four ot
Kane·~ rlo1.es• :assocfales: Bt'rn­strtn
and L,•land, who were both
leadlng rtgure• In Kane's early
ri.r to v.ealth •nd ram•; Susan
Alexand~r. Kane•, second v.,re
whorn h• had rorrPd to b~come
an opera s,n~er and who Is "°"'
drunk and destitute In a dingy
saloon; and Raymond, Kane's
butler
EJ<PLANATIONS
All offer durerent explanattons
or "rosebud •· The audience dis­covers
the answer at the conclu­sion
of the movie, as Kane's
material posseslons are crated
up for removal from Xamdu,
a workman tosses an antique
slelJh Into the ftre. Marked on
the sled ls the enlg-mallc "rose­bud
" It ts Ille haunting reminder
or Kane's dismal childhOOdwhlcb
he never quite rorgol.
From this oarntllon it 1, quite
difficult to believe and understand
why "Clth:en Kline" had the re­lease
troubl<>s It did For this
perhaps we should dlscussOrson
Welles and his far from auspi­cious
debul on the HollywOOd
scene.
As most people know, Orson
Welles llrs1 came Into national
recognition w1tb hts famous ''War
of the World" broadcast on th•
I never died says he."*
radio 1n 1938
The progTa m •••• peopl.,
tunning rrom thPlr home5 In ·•
panic wtthout precedence In an
atlempt 10 escape the ~artl:m
Invasion Welles b1mse11 nar­rated
•nd adapted !be program
frorn a story by that other W•tl.s­H.
G
Welles was Just as namboyant
on Broad,..,1y with hi• collertloo
or the most tatenh'<I lheatrlral
C-N>up In show businPss, thP lP­c•
ndary Merrury Players.
HollywOOd recOJnl1ed and
needed a wht~ kid (23-years-old
at the time) Ilk<, Welles, and h•
wu orrered his cho1c• or him
contracts ,n 1939.
Instead of signing "'1th a ma­jOr
company, Welles wanted (and
111>t) complete directorl>I freed­om
from RKO Studios, a company
previously pledged to producing
cheap B melodramas. WellM'
feature was to be RKO's rtrst
majOr efrort, and h• wa• allotted
$800,000, an unheard ol sum at
RKO, lo film his picture.
FIRST CANCELLED
Welles first set out to adapt
Josepb Conrad's cl:.ssle ,.Heart
of Darkness," but l>Pcause of
time and script dlff1oultles II wu
cancelled
RKO then assigned "Smll•r
With a Knife" as Welles' first
feature. But because the ptcturo
bad a largH female lead than
Welles' part, this plctur~ wag
also cancelled
Paramount Pictures Presents A Sag1ttanus Production AB O WIOERBERG ALM
-TH UJoe ~!!!.~---JOANBAE2 OMMY BERGGREN"'"""'°'" ..... -.... tnColot ~Pa,amOU'll ~t !Al ~.P l~=-"::-+ I'·:::.::-.-. :-"..::.-] :- / ·; .·.~.. w-.,,.-.._. ... ... .__, .,.. _... ... ,..I.I.C. _A •_.,........-.-.i.a...-
STARTS TODAY
IIOK.54y ' TIL 2 P.M. -$1
EXCLUSIVE
FREE PARKING
1110t4-FRI AFTER S:30
SAT & SUN•ALL DAY
W•ltH lht•n b<,pn •ork with
Herman J Mar1kiew,ci: on thts
third script "Cltll~n Kane,"
wbtch """ rl'<\dy ror hlmtng tn
July, 1940
"Citizen K:tQl'" was ('omr,INt'd
October 23, 1940, •nd went to
1he cuttlne rooms ror final t'<f1t­tn~,
dubblntr and s<'onnc. tn Jan­uuy
1941. thP studio II.Id Its ltrst
prtnt ready ror Pxhthatoo and tbl'
llo\ly .. ood press ,·orps was 1n­vlll'd
Mt•mbl•rs or th• movtr
oolony, an~orPd by ,t,r publlclt~
a fresh 1alrnt like W•llrs had
cenrrated. ,at !Mck gll•Plull~ and
waited for Jud~ment Day
SCREENING
WIiiiam Randolph Hearst,
newspallt'r baron or the country,
bad as bis lloll)·wood r•pttsenta­ttve
the vicious Lou~lla Parsons
Th• serond work or Januuy Mtu
Parsons ,;at throu1h th• sort•en­lng
or "Cltlteo Kane" wtth two
or HParM'• l>wyers.
FollowtnJ th• Ytewtnc she te­lE"
gtaplted her bo!lS saylnJ that
"CltltNl Kane'' •asanunauthor·
t,A'd blo,;raphy or Hearst and one
that ~howed htm tn the "ont
posslblr 1t1ht Hr•nt tmm•­dlately
ord•rl'<I Gl'OrgeScha•f•r,
president or RKO, to wtthhold
°ࠗ Ctllte.n Kane'" from national
dl•trlbutton
S<,haerer relu1ed ••d thin~& be­can
10 hap()<'n Qn., of th••• doall
with llorman J M•nkletnn, """
now wantfld aol~ credU for tht
"Kant-'' ~cr-tpc Thf' oth1•r oon·
cerntld MtS"- ParKon!II' riv.ti
Hec:lctl. Hopper 111ho w;1, rlf'lt•r ..
mlnrd to ctLamptr,n or~on W,1Ul'!ti
:and wrott:t o sax-par, r.arito hro.,d­casl
or Wt-ties · ttre. Th,,. w .. ,~
1ntttatNS 1n An ltltlmpc en d•~­covrr
lo whom Unlly•ood
belonged• to Mis-. Parl'iC>ns or fr,
Ml$S llop1><•r
BHau~P I arn t,rk1nc ,n 11s, .. u•flo
will sai thllt Ibis lxltth• , or
••1•afC1,ure t1t+ Kan,•"' '" ti w.i~
caHPd • ...,~,_ taM·ln.:utnit hoth 1u th,
Insider~ and to lhe cyn1c-11 earu•r
for w.n., · d~f<ilt
In any C3&e, ''C1tt1.fn Kanr ..
was finally r•leu<'d \fay I, 19~1.
but not beror.• W~lh•• addt'<I his
own r,nal fuel to lb• hrt" by
publlcly ,-aytn1, • Wh•n I Kl'l 'Cl­llEtn
KonP' otr ruy mind, I'm
COing 10 WOrk 00 ,I l[r,•at tdP->
tor a plrturr b.a~fl'f'J on thP 1u,,
of Wllltam Rondolph 11•.r•t'"
£ARLY LEGEND
"Citizen Kane" hoal i,..rnm•
a leic~nd t>-:,ror_. ~nynn,• h:ad even
g • .,. It
N,.xt. ThP movft> ' 1CtUt11n Kan,.•• ...
a p;,1noramtt- vtttw
Nolf': --c1t1u·n Kan.-0 •·t11 bP
•hown thl• Sunday ov~n1n1 No•
21 at Trinity Uot•••ratty
Igo co-edits comedy
John Igo, a••e>Clatt' vrofesgor
of £ngltsh, ta a co-editor or
"Mnsurp ror Measure " First
R~P<'rtClry Comp.,ny·• llr5t
Shakespt'>rttn production of tb,•
ffison .
110 ....,rkl'<I with dlrertDr J
Ro.,..rt Swain and Cb•rh•< Cl>n•
way, 11s1st.1n1 dtrt!'ctor
Onr ot Sh:1kr,i;.pt'!art 11 lah·rC'n•
m+-dl .. !lt, ''M•·.aaur .. for MPuourt•"
tells th~ ate>ry al l.ard Aog,•lu
.-ho ruin VU•nna 'Whth thfll Duk~
It av..ay,
f'amou.a for b11 mor .. tuy. An·
CPIO UfdNA •II 0( th" bawd)
bo1.utf'~ of \'ft•nna ~tosNi itnd .tC•
tu~es a yr,unc man, Cl.lud10~ or
trt-aC'hery ,dth tus hn:u·tff, Juliet
0 t UJ•iat.-c;S 1hr lantu.att, , b)
tt«hh·otog u and outttn, out tht,
d•ad.,ood , I too~ 0111 •ome ol th.,
ar('hlllt" •1prft,11tnn1 that thff mo ..
dern audltnce,, would not und, r•
stand,'' 1110 nplained
u But &hf' plot and ttl ;tvvelop­m,.
nt n•maln ,n th.- way that ••
bfllfllYf• Shakr•JK>Jffl wrotr.
th•m •·
Ito 1p.,n1 11• """LS atudytng
major f'd11ion11 of " Mp.a_.,.urt" tor
MNaurett and rPat.hn1 romnu·n·
taries of ti to t» surr th:at hr
undot5100d lh~ context of the 11lay
t>eror .. l~llling It
•
0Tb., unh rMI ch•"k'" ttt.,,t I
mafif'I w-.1,J to tomtnne t,v,. m~IK·
nlfit"an\ minor rtih·~ tnlo on, lln•
porunt OIi~," IIIU 1<• Id
lind.-.r t~·11 ditrcttnn 1 :mnlhf•r
of h11 -.·orks, •·Th,• r>ark l,a,h ,­IAvt-
r•, ' wlll bt• JM•rfornH..J by
t·lut R~p l>t•• 16-10
ThP Jlli4)' l l 1hr story of n pwt ""° ts th,. tt-:adll'r ur ilh •"xtra•
ordinarily h.an•t.'fflmf'! yuunii: man
tt,-tw, b~ no 1ovt>t Th• po,;t :;lt ...
tt-mJ.,t!I to tv.1rb ht, 11tud1•11t JMut
lovfl lbrou,th hi!; ov.o r,•t;:aUflOshlp
wUb lht• d.1 rk l~4Y but tbt- lad!,
•nd tho ,oun~ man lnll tn lo,·•
M2pte llu<ty, th~ d•rk buy
,, u mstruc-tor an &JX"'f•rh tu •h~
.,v,•ntnc r1lY1~ton h••rf·, Chrh»tn•
phPr Mrlnurtt. thP )ounc m.-n . l1i
a !i:e-ntor at MacAr1hur Hl«h
S('hofJI 1.nd Judn- Bf'ncon tht! poN.
,, chairman nr lht" ln«:h ... h ,h ...
parlmt'nl .il.t Anton tan H 1ah &--ht'Ml'I
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