RKO 281 - The Battle Over Citizen Kane

Starring:Liev Schreiber, James Cromwell, Melanie Griffith, John Malkovich, Brenda Blethyn, Roy Scheider, Liam Cunningham, Fiona Shaw, Anastasia Hille, Roger Allam, Simeon Andrews, William Armstrong, Jay Benedict, Ron Berglas, Paul Birchard, Neil Conrich, Michael Cronin (II), Sarah Franzl, Briony Glassco, Louis Hammond
Director: Benjamin Ross
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Product Type: DVD

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This 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

Customer Reviews:

RKO 281.......2007-03-30

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.

The Battle over Citizen Kane.......2006-11-11

"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

"Has he no idea of the power that controls him?".......2006-08-30

The HBO film "RKO 281: The Battle Over Citizen Kane" is the fictionalized background story of the making of the film "Citizen Kane." Orson Welles (Liev Schreiber) was a promising young star--dubbed the "boy wonder" when he starred in and directed one of the most important American films ever made. The film depicts Welles attending a dinner at the opulent Hearst Castle--home of idiosyncratic newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst (James Cromwell). Here Welles butts heads with the publisher, and this incident is seen as the spark that ignited the creation of "Citizen Kane." Welles, in collaboration with screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz (John Malkovich), writes a script about a man who sacrifices his principles to his ambitious desire for great wealth and power. "Citizen Kane"--in its implied criticism of the 'American Dream' is a bold film, but when Welles decided to blatantly model the main character on Hearst, he courted disaster.

A large portion of the film shows the struggle and determination with the film itself, and another portion deals with Hearst's attempts to squash the film. Hearst's attempts to destroy the film are blatant censorship, and the film shows Hearst as nasty, cold, and dictatorial--employing some extremely dirty tricks--including blackmail and racism with the aid of the gossip columnist Louella Parsons (Brenda Blethyn). "RKO 281" does an excellent job of recreating the times--this is right before America's entry into WWII, and the war is a distant rumble in Europe. Hearst exploits the fact that Jews own a number of the film studios--and creates a news release that the studios are employing "swarthy" foreigners--to whip up ethnocentrism. Hearst, perhaps the most powerful man in the country, exploits that power to bring Hollywood to its knees.

The relationship between Hearst and his actress mistress Marion Davies (Melanie Griffith) is portrayed as a widely disparate relationship between two troubled souls. She loses herself in alcohol, and he resorts to autocratic haughtiness when she dares question his decisions. In one great scene, Davis questions Hearst about his out-of-control spending, and she states that there's a difference between wanting and needing--"Not to me, there isn't" Hearst retorts, and indeed Hearst's megalomaniacal pursuit of antiquities hoarded within the walls of Hearst Castle is seen as a pathological condition. Welles is portrayed as an idealist, and he's nicely teamed with the sycophantic Mankiewicz. If you can suspend your belief for the duration of the film and accept Liev Schreiber as Welles (and let's face it, this is a tough role), the film is an interesting, gossipy look at a great scandal of the age--displacedhuman

Excellent Historical Drama .......2006-02-23

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."

An edible version of historical events.......2003-09-19

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.)

RKO 281: The Battle Over Citizen Kane [Region 2]

Average customer rating:

RKO 281
The Battle over Citizen Kane
"Has he no idea of the power that controls him?"
Excellent Historical Drama
An edible version of historical events

RKO 281: The Battle Over Citizen Kane [Region 2]
Starring: Liev Schreiber , James Cromwell , Melanie Griffith , John Malkovich , and Brenda Blethyn
Director: Benjamin Ross
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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