RKO 281 - The Battle Over Citizen Kane
by Benjamin Ross
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DVD details
Actor: Brenda Blethyn, James Cromwell, John Malkovich, Liev Schreiber, Melanie GriffithDirector: Benjamin Ross
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 87 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-04-25
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Hbo Home Video
DVD Reviews of RKO 281 - The Battle Over Citizen Kane
DVD Review: HBO's RKO 281: The Battle Over CITIZEN KANE - a MUST for Any Film Buff!
Summary: 5 Stars
This sumptuously produced made-for-TV movie concerning the epic battle between 26-year-old boy wonder Orson Welles and newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst over CITIZEN KANE is totally enthralling from the opening scene to final fadeout. Hearst was highly annoyed with Welles' first movie (working title: RKO 281) because its newspaper publisher character bore a too-close-for-comfort resemblance to himself. As a result the aging publishing magnate would go to any extreme to shut the movie down. "The stuff of legend, with tales of sexual blackmail, money changing hands and threats behind closed doors." The Direction is crisp and the acting superb, with the likes of Roy Scheider, John Malkovich, James Cromwell (as Hearst), Melanie Griffith (Marion Davies) and Liev Schreiber (Welles) in the cast. Light up the arc lamps and let the fireworks begin! DVD Review: RKO 281
Summary: 5 Stars
I found this DVD entertaining, giving the behind-the-scenes look at the making of Kane. I'm a big fan of Welles and Liev Schreiber's performance of Orson was top-notch. Those of you that like story of the Battle over Citizen Kane with Orson Welles and William Randolf Hearst, this is for you. It gives a sense of how motion pictures were made in that era. I found the film to be very inspirational.DVD Review: The Battle over Citizen Kane
Summary: 4 Stars
"RKO 281" is a made-for-HBO movie on the process of making Citizen Kane, called by The American Film Institute, the greatest film ever made.
The movie is not a biopic on it's creator Orson Welles, in the same way
Walk the Line wasn't a biopic on Johnny Cash. It's a film that details a pivotal event in that persons life. We get some glimpes of Welles childhood, but this movie is about making Citizen Kane. The title of the film, which I don't like at all, refers to what Citizen Kane was called while it was being made. Liev Schreiber plays the "boy genius" Welles, who is tapped by RKO studios to make a movie after his legendary War of the Worlds radio broadcast makes people think the world is being taken over by aliens. Welles and his friend/writing partner Herman Mankiewicz (John Malkovich, who is great), whom he calls Mank, need to write a film but don't have any ideas. Then they meet William Randolph Hearst (James Cromwell), a rich newspaper publisher who lives in a large castle-like mansion filled with gorgeous woman, expensive paintings and statues, and an aura of sadness. After Welles entertains some people at a dinner party Hearst is holding, with a story about bull charging, Hearst gives him a tongue lashing about cruelty to animals. This makes Welles mad, but also gives him an idea...To write a movie about Hearst and change the name of the character to Charles Foster Craig (although later, he decides the name isn't good enough and changes it to Charles Foster Kane). As Welles and Mank work on the script, we're treated to some small funny moments including when Welles comes up with rosebud. Anyway; After the film is completed and people begin seeing it, Hearst begins to fight to get the film destroyed but begins sinking into the depths of bankruptcy. Melanie Griffith plays Hearst's mistress, who bares resemblance to Kane's second wife in the film. Before seeing this film I knew the average things about Citizen Kane that you can read in Roger Eberts book and such. I don't know how much of this film is true, but it was told in such a fun way that it was hard not to like. Orson Welles is portrayed as an occasionally mean, but dedicated man who just wanted to make a movie. I think John Malkovich steals the show as Welles co-writer. He plays his character with such finesse and charm, it's hard not to like him. If I ever hear someone say Herman Mankiewicz, I'll definitely think John Malkovich. The movie is written by John Logan (who penned the Howard Hughes biopic "The Aviator") and is surprisingly well done. I'd rather see a full biopic on Orson Welles, but this is a good substitute. Schreiber wouldn't have been my first choice to play Welles, but he does pretty well. Anyone looking for insight into Welles personal life shouldn't look much further. If you enjoyed Citizen Kane or enjoy watching John Malkovich onscreen than you should check this movie out. It's not perfect (sometimes it's even dull), but it's interesting and well-acted enough to be recommended.
GRADE: B
DVD Review: Excellent Historical Drama
Summary: 4 Stars
Seven years ago, I visited the Hurst Castle in San Simian, CA and was astonished by the grandure, size, and scope of the lavish lifestyle led by William Randolph Hurst. After visiting this palace, I wondered if there ever would be a great movie that was made about this larger-than-life icon. I also read some about the controversy that surrounded Hurst later in his life when Orson Welles made his debut in Hollywood with CITIZEN KANE. Director Benjamin Ross and Producers Ridley and Tony Scott have vividly captured this pivotal moment in Hollywood history that pitted two of the most prestigious men of this era against one another: Hurst, a media mogul and newspaper tycoon, and Welles, the 24 year old controversial "boy genius" of New York. Both James Cromwell and Liev Schreiber give rivoting perfomances as Hurst and Welles as they duel over the release of what would later be considered the "greatest film of all time." Schreiber embodies the young, passionately-driven and volatile Welles, while Cromwell transforms into the tyrannical and manipulative Hurst who would stop at nothing to prevent and ultimately destroy's Welle's masterpiece. This made-for-tv film received a Golden Globe for Best Picture. In addition to brilliant performances by Cromwell and Schrieber, there are also some exquisite performances given by the films supporting cast. The most impressive of these is British actress Brenda Blethyn's portrayal of Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons, who in the film acts as Hurst's vicious informant and enforcer. John Malkovich also provides a great supporting performance as Herman Mankewicz, the screenwriter for CITZEN KANE and friend of Orson Welles. In addition to Blethyn and Malkovich, British actor David Suchet ("Executive Decision"), who plays Louis B. Mayer, president and CEO of MGM Pictures, also provides a memorial appearance in adding to the underhanded deception and corruption in 1940's Hollywood over preventing CITIZEN KANE's release. Rounding out the cast is Melanie Grifitth as the charming, gullible, and attractive Marion Davies (former actress and Hurst's long-time mistress)who was the inspiration for the Susan Alexander character in CITIZEN KANE. Though there maybe some slight historical inaccurancies in the film concerning the CITIZEN KANE controversy, on the whole it is a brilliant piece of movie making that shed even more light on why the American Film Institute named CITIZEN KANE "the number one film of all time."
DVD Review: An edible version of historical events
Summary: 4 Stars
I have to disagree with those who look at this as an historical narrative. This is a great story of a man fighting against a system that treated its employees as slaves. Actors, directors and writers were loaned and traded at the whim of the powerful studio bosses at the time of Kane. This shows the will of one brash, arrogant, young man who dared to stand up to that power and fight for the film he thought should be made.This may not be historically 100% accurate, but it doesn't need to be. It needs to be the spirit, not the letter. And I believe that it is. Wells was one of the most important people in the history of film, and this dramatizes his beginnings. We should view it as such, and not as a documentary about the making of Kane.
I am in the camp that feels that this is not even Welle's best film. I feel that Touch Of Evil is a better film. But if it were not for Kane, there would have been no Evil.
(Trivia, for the non-movie-buffs. In this film they ask Welles to direct a film version of War Of The Worlds. He actually wanted to direct a version of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." The studio wouldn't let him. 30+ years later, Francis Ford Coppola wanted to film a version of "Heart of Darkness." Both times, the studio turned them down, saying it was not a viable film. While it may be argued that in the hands of Welles or Coppola "Darkness" may have been viable, this is an example of studios having divine inspiration. Their denials gave us Kane and The Godfather. Both were the second choices of the directors. Thank you RKO and Paramount.)
Description of RKO 281 - The Battle Over Citizen Kane
The orson welles-directed citizen kane then known as rko 281 was loosely based on the life of newspaper publisher william randolph hearst. But not so loosely that he didnt want it destroyed before the public could ever see it. The struggle that ensued and the lengths he went to are revealed in rko 281. Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 03/13/2001 Starring: Liev Schreiber Melanie Griffith Run time: 87 minutes Rating: R Director: Benjamin RossThis absorbing HBO docudrama tells the story of the making of what is considered by many to be America's greatest film, Citizen Kane. "Boy genius" Orson Welles came to Hollywood with no idea how to follow up his stage and radio success in the movie business. A dinner invitation to publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst's castle, San Simeon, inspired him to use Hearst's story as the basis for his brilliant film debut: a scathing allegory about the absolute corruptibility of power. RKO 281 demonstrates Welles's famously obsessive attention to artistic detail, which made his first movie such a masterpiece. But the film almost never made it to the screen--Hearst used his entire empire to try to destroy it. Two of the most mammoth egos in entertainment history--Hearst and Welles--were pitted against one another in the battle over Citizen Kane. Liev Schreiber has the close-to-impossible task of playing Orson Welles. He may not have Welles's monumental presence (who does?) but he does a credible job. John Malkovich turns in a powerful, understated performance as Welles's long-suffering sidekick Herman Mankiewicz, James Cromwell makes a first-rate Hearst, and Melanie Griffith is warmly sympathetic as Hearst's mistress, Marion Davies. The docudrama imparts some marvelously juicy insider lore, such as the real meaning behind the famous dying dispatch in the history of movies: "Rosebud." --Laura Mirsky
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