РефератыИностранный языкCiCitizen Kane An Accurate Portrayal Of William

Citizen Kane An Accurate Portrayal Of William

Citizen Kane: An Accurate Portrayal Of William Randolph Hearst? Essay, Research Paper


Many have called Citizen Kane the greatest cinematic achievement of all


time. It is indeed a true masterpiece of acting, screen writing, and


directing. Orson Welles, its young genius director, lead actor, and a


co-writer, used the best talents and techniques of the day (Bordwell 103)


to tell the story of a newspaper giant, Charles Kane, through the eyes of


the people who loved and hated him. However, when it came out, it was


scorned by Hollywood and viewed only in the private theaters of RKO, the


producer. Nominated for nine Academy Awards, it was practically booed off


the stage, and only won one award, that for Best Screenplay, which Welles


and Herman Mankiewicz shared (Mulvey 10). This was all due to the pressure


applied by the greatest newspaper man of the time, one of the most powerful


men in the nation, the man Citizen Kane portrayed as a corrupt power


monger, namely William Randolph Hearst.


One cannot ignore the striking similarities between Hearst and Kane. In


order to make clear at the outset exactly what he intended to do, Orson


Welles included a few details about the young Kane that, given even a


rudimentary knowledge of Hearst’s life, would have set one thinking about


the life of that newspaper giant. Shortly after the film opens, a reporter


is seen trying to discover the meaning of Kane’s last word, “Rosebud.” He


begins his search by going through the records of Kane’s boyhood guardian,


Thatcher. The scene comes to life in midwinter at the Kane boarding house.


Kane’s mother has come into one of the richest gold mines in the world


through a defaulting boarder, and at age twenty-five, Kane will inherit his


sixty million dollars (Citizen Kane). His mother is doubtful of the


quality of the education her son will receive in Colorado, and therefore


wishes to send her son to study with Thatcher. Hearst’s parents came by


their money through gold mines (Swanberg 5), so both Hearst and Kane were


raised with “golden” spoons in their respective mouths. Kane is unusually


devoted to his mother, as shown when he turns away from his father to


listen to his mother, and when he only pays heed to his mother’s answers to


his questions (Citizen Kane). Hearst likewise was completely devoted to


his mother. He was sheltered from the real world by his mother and her


money for most of his young life, rarely even seeing his traveling father


(Swanberg 25). Also, Kane’s dying word and the name of his childhood sled,


“Rosebud,” (Citizen Kane) was the name of a town twenty miles east of where


Hearst’s parents were born and grew up (Robinson 13). Everything from the


newsreel at the start of the film on Kane’s life matches Hearst’s almost


perfectly. Kane ran over thirty newspapers, radios, and syndicates, had a


well publicized romantic affair, tried in vain to be elected to public


office, was totally and completely careless with his money, (always


expecting there would be much more coming), and built himself a pleasure


palace called Xanadu, which included a gigantic collection of statues and


animals (Citizen Kane). Hearst also did all these things over the course


of his life, which further served to convince movie viewers of Welles’


libelous intentions in the making of the movie. (Swanberg).


After the opening newsreel on Hearst’s life, the movie goes through the


boyhood scene where Thatcher takes Kane away from his parents. It then


quickly shifts to a point twenty years later, when Kane is about to inherit


the sixth largest private fortune in the world. Thatcher is concerned that


Kane won’t know his place in the world, and his fears are affirmed when


Kane sends a telegram saying that he has no interest in gold mines or


banks, but, rather, he would like to take over a small newspaper of which


Thatcher has taken possession, the Morning Inquirer, because, “I think it


would be fun to write a newspaper.” (Citizen Kane) The circumstances under


which Hearst entered the newspaper world were very similar. Hearst’s


father, a nearly illiterate mining tycoon, owned a newspaper in San


Francisco, The Examiner, which he used as nothing more than a political


organ to further his candidacy for a seat in Congress (Swanberg 26).


Against his father’s wishes for him to enter the world of mining, young


Hearst took control of the paper to try to reverse his father’s enormous


losses on it (Swanberg 47).


Both Hearst and Kane immediately began to revolutionize everything


about their respective papers. Kane literally moved in to the office so


that he might be constantly around his paper, constantly able to redo it at


any hour, night or day. He makes it quite clear that, from now on, The


Examiner was going to do more than just report what the current editor


considered “newsworthy.” It was going to report all news, large or small,


especially if it could be made into a sensation and sell newspapers. And


if there was no current sensation, Kane would create the news. Hearst did


the same thing, revolutionizing his paper to take on “undignified topics”


to gain circulation, sporting shocking headlines and stories of “crime and


underwear.” In a classic example of similarity, Kane nearly quoted Hearst


exactly: “You supply the prose and poems, I’ll supply the war,” (Orson


Wells, Citizen Kane) as Kane discussed what to telegram back to a man in


Cuba. Hearst was very much anti-Spanish dur ing the Cuban revolution, and


if not for his efforts, it is probable that the war would not have even


been fought. But Hearst, who would do anything for a headline, cooked up


incredibly falsified tales of Spanish brutality. As stories of Cuban


injustice became old news to the public, especially as there was no real


war, a reporter telegraphed Hearst that he would like to leave. Hearst


replied, “Please remain. You furnish the pictures, I’ll furnish the war.”


(Swanberg 127) Such an obvious similarity can only have been deliberate,


as Kane practically quoted Hearst.


In the movie, Thatcher was furious with Kane’s success in attacking


trusts in defense of “the people” and providing false headlines such as


those about the Spanish Armada being anchored off of the Jersey coast, a


headline printed with virtually no proof to substantiate it. Kane even used


his paper to attack a company of which he himself, along with Thatcher, was


the major shareholder. As Thatcher prepared to leave after his discussion


with Kane on what new is, he mentioned to Kane his enormous losses, which


totaled one million dollars for the year, a staggering sum to have been


lost by one person, especially at that time. Kane,. however, laughed it


off, joking that, at that rate, he’ll have to close down in sixty years


(Citizen Kane). All these things were characteristic of Hearst as well.


He attacked the trusts in favor of “the people” (a favorite phrase of


Hearst’s) and hired lawyers to try to get injunctions against the trusts


and eventually destroy them. He supported the eight hour workday and the


labor unions (Swanberg 235). He made up headlines preying on people’s fear


and hatred of Spain and Japan which, not coincidentally, he had aroused by


previous articles in The Examiner and other publications of his about


Spanish atrocities in Cuba and the “yellow menace” of Japan (Swanberg 122,


352) Hearst threw money away as though to him it literally grew on trees.


A man with an income of fifteen million dollars a year at the height of his


power, he had almost no savings and sometimes had to borrow money (Swanberg


88).


Right after taking over The Inquirer, as told now by Bernstein, Kane


ordered the editor to play up less “important” stories for the paper, the


kinds of things that the nation wanted to see and read about, not just


boring, plain “news.” He became very involved in the editorial content of


his paper, constantly trying to make it better that the rest, staying up


late, thinking of headlines and ideas for scoops. Kane went to the office


of The Chronicle, his main competition, to admire the best newspaper staff


in the world and its gigantic circulation, and soon after he bribed those


same men with large sums of cash to move from The Chronicle to his


newspaper, achieving in six years what it took The Chronicle twenty years


to accomplish. He married the president’s niece, Emily. (Citizen Kane)


These were very Hearst-like maneuvers in many ways. First, as stated


before, Hearst loved to embellish and exaggerate the news to get


circulation. Second, Hearst was constantly stealing talented newspapermen


from other newspapers, a practice which annoyed such men as Joseph Pulitzer


to no end. (Pulitzer’s World was Hearst’s favorite publication) (Swanberg


95). Hearst paid any salary he had to without a care, for he had millions


his disposal, since his father was still funding the enterprise. Hearst


married young Millicent Willson, a parallel to Kane’s Emily (Swanberg 246)


Bernstein’s narration ended with a telegram from Kane announcing his


purchase of the largest diamond in the world. Bernstein commented to


Leland, Kane’s best friend, that Kane was not collecting diamonds, but


collecting someone else who was collecting diamonds (Citizen Kane). This is


an early hint at Kane’s belief that one could buy love like anything else,


which is one of Welles’ main criticisms of Hearst, and is shown as Kane’s


fatal flaw. It is certainly one of the main reasons Welles made the movie


about Hearst in the first place.


The next scene opens with Leland, one of Kane’s only friends. Leland


continued Bernstein’s stories of Kane’s belief in the ability to purchase


love, and hinted at the one overwhelming thing about him, the absolute


enigma he posed to even his closest friends. Leland explained how no one


could understand Kane because of the contradictions in his beliefs and


life. He said that, “Maybe Charlie wasn’t brutal, he just did brutal


things,” (Citizen Kane) explaining how Kane, while a firm believer in the


government and law, couldn’t see how it applied to him. Hearst, who was an


incredible egomaniac, shared the same beliefs. He was in constant conflict


with himself. For instance, he supported the coal strikers while being


backed by Tammany Hall, the very head of the Democratic party machine with


close ties to big business (Swanberg 238-245). This trait is the one which


Kane played out to full effect in his movie. Once the audience was sure


that they were seeing Hearst up there, Welle s could explain the problems


of a man like Hearst, a man who had to have his own way. His want at the


moment was the largest paper in New York, but that would soon change.


Leland told of Kane’s arguments with his wife, which climaxed with


Kane’s ultimate statement of his belief in his own omnipotence. When Kane’s


wife begins, “People will think,” he completes the sentence for her with,


“What I tell them to think!” (Citizen Kane) Everything about Hearst’s


manner of speaking and his beliefs pointed to that fact that he was an


egomaniac as well, a firm believer in his own power.


The one thing Kane wanted in his life, Leland explained, was love, but


it was the one thing he never found. He wanted the people to love him just


as his newspaper staff did, and he went about making sure that it occurred


by entering the world of politics. Right before his campaign for governor,

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Kane met a pretty, young opera singer named Susan Alexander and entered


into a relationship with her. Then he made his incredible bid for


governorship on an independent ticket, an office which, for him, would have


been the easy first step to the White House (Citizen Kane). Once again,


the detailed similarities to Hearst’s life were astounding. Hearst sought


public office after his dominance over the newspaper world was assured.


The key office he sought, and which was denied to him by attacks by


Theodore Roosevelt, was the governorship of New York on an independent


ticket. Both of the men used dirty and abusive campaigning methods,


portraying their opponents as jailbirds in their publ ications. Had Hearst


been elected, he would most likely have become president soon after. Here,


however, both in the movie and in Hearst’s life, the family obsession about


the newspapers began to dissolve. Kane left the running of his newspapers


to other men, not taking as much of an interest in them anymore. Hearst did


likewise, ending his earlier practices of obtaining good men at any cost.


A man had to work to keep his job, and it could be snatched away at any


moment by “The Chief” (Swanberg 263). Hearst also met a beautiful young


actress, Marion Davies, and took her as his mistress (Swanberg 402). At


this point, however, the two tales differ.


Kane was defeated in the election when his affair with Ms. Susan


Alexander was exposed by his opponent, Jim Gettys, who basically ordered


Kane and Emily to come to see Ms. Alexander. Again Kane’s towering


egocentricity showed through when he completely disregarded everyone else’s


wishes and declared that only he decided what C.F. Kane did. As Gettys


left, Kane flew into a rage and screamed, “I’m Charles Foster Kane, and I’m


going to send you to Sing Sing, Gettys, Sing Sing!” The next day, the


papers were filled with the story, and Kane lost the election. (Citizen


Kane) Hearst, on the other hand, was defeated by the president himself and


people using his own newspapers against him, but it served Welles’ purpose


better to have Kane defeated by his own greed.


Kane went on to divorce Emily and marry Susan. Having failed in his


own right, he heaped his ambition on Susan. This was most clearly seen


with his statement, “We’re (italics added) going to be a great opera star.”


(Citizen Kane)


The movie then shifted easily to Susan Alexander’s portrayal of Kane as


her own personal ambition factory. Whatever she was lacking, he supplied


it for her and threw his papers heart and soul into backing her, even


though she was a terrible opera singer. Hearst did the same for Davies,


each movie of hers a greater triumph than the last, according to his


reviewers. Although Marion Davies, unlike Susan, was a genuinely talented


individual, there were enough similarities between the two women. Both


women loved jigsaw puzzles (Reflections on Citizen Kane), both were


singers, both were well publicized affairs. However Kane married Susan,


while Hearst never divorced his wife. Both men pushed and pushed and


pushed their mistresses to the breaking point and ran their mistress’s


lives (Swanberg 585), at which point Susan attempted suicide and Kane found


her lying in bed unconscious. Davies never went to such lengths, but found


the pressure somewhat hampering. When Susan awoke, Kane was so grateful,


he let her have her way; she would not sing again even though it meant the


end of Kane’s hopes for greatness. Kane began to build Xanadu for them, a


gigantic castle with a gigantic collection of animals from all over the


world (Citizen Kane). Hearst built San Simeon for Davies, to whom he was


truly devoted (Swanberg 447), unlike Kane and Susan. The latter couple


eventually divorced after Susan’s speech in which she says that Kane had


never giver anything to her, he had just tried to buy her into giving him


something.


Finally, with the point of view of Kane’s butler come two more


similarities. Kane flew into violent rages when he didn’t get something he


wanted, as when Susan left him and he said that fateful word for the first


time, “Rosebud.” Kane was also a collector of everything, he threw nothing


out, and was always buying something. (Citizen Kane) Hearst had the same


bizarre practice. He would destroy thousands of dollars worth of antiques


in a fit of anger and then spend one hundred thousand dollars on a passing


whim. He never, however, threw anything out (Swanberg 585).


The movie closed on the scene of the resolution of the Rosebud puzzle.


Among all the junk Kane had collected, lay a tiny wooden sled, the one from


the day when Thatcher took him away from his mother, which was hauled off


and thrown into the fire. Upon closer examination, the word “Rosebud” can


be made out as it is slowly incinerated.


Having taken into account the evidence presented above, it was clear


that Orson Welles had based his movie around the life of William Randolph


Hearst, a fact which upset Hearst to no end. In fact, a representative of


the Hearst Organization offered eight hundred and forty two thousand


dollars to RKO, the film’s producer, if they would burn it. This plot


having failed, RKO was blacklisted by the gigantic Hearst press and had to


show the movie in private theaters. And yet, Welles still claimed that his


movie had no intention of being biographical. He said, It is not based


upon the life of Mr. Hearst or anyone else. On the other hand, had Mr.


Hearst and similar financial barons not lived during the period we discuss,


Citizen Kane could not have been made.” (Zinmen 238)


In his life, Hearst ran many newspapers, as of course, did Kane. When


he was still beginning, he owned four, and at the time he committed all of


them to warring with Spain, as mentioned above. This singular, small event


was the turning point in the life of a brilliant man and indeed the turning


point of a nation. He had almost single handedly, using his power of the


press, sent one of the most powerful nations in the world to war. The


people of the United States had been manipulated wonderfully by the press


to believe that Spain was such a menace that they must rally for war, even


though it was all an invention by Hearst and his constituents to promote


the newspaper’s circulation. If the press could do that, he believed it


could do anything, even send a Mr. Hearst to the White House who had not


the slightest experience as a political leader. And it very nearly did


(Swanberg 245).


When he realized that his newspapers were a source of infinite power,


that he could manipulate the people to get what he wanted, Hearst changed.


His goals changed. His fight went from one for larger circulation to one


for personal power, as much as he could get. He stopped being physically


involved in his papers, as mentioned before, instead directing from his


throne at San Simeon. He entered the political arena, where the ultimate


prize lay, the ultimate investment of power in a single individual, the


presidency. And yet again and again, by the voters or the corrupt bosses


at Tammany Hall or by his many political enemies, he was defeated. His,


like the story of Kane, was a story of constant personal failure due, as


often as not. to his own faults


However, things for Hearst were not always as bad as they were for


Kane. Hearst did actually win public office once. He became a state


representative of New York. This he accomplished with the backing of the


Tammany Hall bosses and a Democratic constituency in the district. Beyond


that he hurled his newspapers and money into the effort, earning a colossal


victory over his opponent. However, Hearst was not content to be a


Representative. He wanted to be president, had wanted to be president ever


since he realized that he had a chance. He had wanted to be the biggest


newspaper publisher in America, and he was. He had wanted Ms. Davies, and


he had her and was devoted to her and spent millions for her entertainment.


Everything which he had wanted he had received, in any way that he could


think of at the moment.


Orson Welles’ criticism of Hearst was the way in which he went about


getting what he wanted, using his immense power over the people of the


country simply to gain personal power. This is the overarching theme,


portrayed so powerfully, in Citizen Kane. When Welles disclaimed any


biographical intent, he did not pretend he was not depicting the forces


that governed Hearst’s life. His newspapers changed drastically, and men


spoke to him with reverence and fear, for his darker side had come to


light. He enjoyed being king over his empire, watching his subjects squirm.


With the building of his palace at San Simeon he only made concrete what


many had known for a long time: William Randolph Hearst sat on a throne as


the king of an empire which controlled the country’s information.


As brought out explicitly by the movie, Hearst wanted love, but not


just the love of a few, the love of all. He needed whatever he wanted, and


he wanted the people’s love. While Hearst was not the loveless monster


Kane is portrayed as, he had many faults, the main one being that he often


seemed to believe he could buy love. Welles attacked this belief heart and


soul, claw and tooth in such scenes as when Leland returns the check with


which Kane had hoped to preserve their friendship, now torn into shreds.


Kane simply cannot fathom why he returned it, because he doesn’t realize


that there is more to loving that gifts. (Cowie 37)


Hearst gave lavish parties and demonstrations to try to win people over


to his side, and it often worked. He assailed his political opponents with


his newspapers, attacking them in whatever way he could, transforming the


newspapers from something he thought he loved into a tool with which he


could get things, a bat he could swing at his opponents, a way to quench


his thirst for money and power. Hearst was a man who discovered the power


he controlled and then proceeded to abuse it, a practice Welles found


intolerable.


All in all, Orson Welles directed, starred in, and helped to write


possibly the greatest film of all time, all to one purpose, to denounce


William Randolph Hearst and all men who were abusive of power and the


public trust. Why did he spend all this effort on this one man, an


apparent crusader for the people, for the working man? Simply, it was


because Hearst, for all his apparent love of the people, was only trying to


get love and power for himself by abusing the most potent weapon and shield


of his day, the free press. “If I hadn’t been very rich, I might have been


a really great man.” (Orson Welles, Citizen Kane)


Bibliography


Bordwell, David. “Citizen Kane,” Focus on Orson Welles. Prentice-Hall,1976.


Cowie, Peter. The Cinema of Orson Welles. De Capo Press, 1973.


Citizen Kane. dir. Orson Welles. With Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy


Comingore. RKO, 1941.


Mulvey, Laura. Citizen Kane. BFI, 1992.


Reflections on Citizen Kane. dir. Unknown. Turner Home Entertainment,1991.


Robinson, Judith. The Hearsts: an American Dynasty. Avon Books, 1991.


Swanberg, W.A. Citizen Hearst. Scribner, 1961. Bantam Matrix Edition, 1967.


Zinman, David. Fifty Classic Motion Pictures: The Stuff that Dreams are


Made Of. NY Crown Publishers, 1970. NY Limelight Editions, 1992.

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