RKO 281

– A film about the making of Citizen Kane. Orson Welles produces his greatest film, Citizen Kane, desp..

Type:
Movie
Rating:
7.10 / 10
Duration:
One Hour and 26 Minutes
Release Year:
1999
RKO 281 (1999)

A film about the making of Citizen Kane. Orson Welles produces his greatest film, Citizen Kane, despite the opposition of the film's de facto subject, William Randolph Hearst.

Story Timeline:
Producing Country:
USA, UK
Filming Locations:
Genre:
Release Date:

20 Nov 1999

Language:

English

MPAA Content-Rating:
R – Restricted

Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. Contains some adult material. Parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their young children with them.

Director:

Benjamin Ross

Writer:

John Logan, Richard Ben Cramer (documentary "The Battle Over Citizen Kane"), Thomas Lennon (documentary "The Battle Over Citizen Kane")

Main Actors:

Liev Schreiber, James Cromwell, Melanie Griffith, John Malkovich

Plot:

Coming to Hollywood as a celebrated boy genius featuring a spectacular career arc in New York including his radio hoax War of the Worlds, Orson Welles is stymied on the subject for his first film. After a dinner party at Hearst Castle, during which he has a verbal altercation with William Randolph Hearst, Welles decides to do a movie about Hearst. It takes him some time to convince co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz and the studio, but Welles eventually gets the script and the green light, keeping the subject very hush-hush with the press. The movie is about an aging newspaper publisher who controlled his enemies as ruthlessly as he controlled his friends; and whose mistress was destined for fame. When a rough cut is screened, Hearst gets wind of the movie's theme and begins a campaign to see that it is not only never publicly screened, but destroyed.

Awards:

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 13 wins & 27 nominations.

Production:

HBO Video

Ratings:
Internet Movie Database:
7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes:
93%