Actress Louise Currie, who had a role in Orson Welles’ landmark film “Citizen Kane,” died on Sept. 8 at the age of 100. Uncredited in the RKO film for her portrayal of a reporter at Xanadu, Currie had been described as the last known surviving cast member of “Citizen Kane.” Sonny Bupp, who played Charles […]
Despite the convincing evidence uncovered by film scholar Robert Carringer 35 years ago, the battle over who wrote “Citizen Kane” is not settled in the minds of Herman Mankiewicz’s family. Mankiewicz’s grandson, Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz, talks with his father, Frank, about the “Kane” authorship during a Father’s Day showing of the the […]
The seldom seen British Arena special “The Complete Citizen Kane” has made its way to YouTube.com, courtesy of online video poster Citizen Welles. The 91-minute documentary opens with a faux, but effective, “Heart of Darkness” and includes BBC interviews with Orson Welles filmed in 1960 and 1982. Also interviewed are Peter Bogdanovich and Pauline Kael. […]
“What does ‘Rosebud’ mean in ‘Citizen Kane’?” It is perhaps the question most often fielded by Wellesnet. The most detailed answer given by Orson Welles was contained in a press statement released by RKO Radio Pictures prior the film’s release in May 1941.
By LAWRENCE FRENCH Orson Welles appearance on The David Frost Show recorded on May 12, 1970 came before most of the numerous biographies about Welles had been published, providing us with Welles’ own point of view on some very interesting aspects of his life and work. This interview also took place in the midst of […]
When Welles didn’t work, he drank, bragged, ran through women, ate like a beast and hated himself. He’d eat supper at his dressing table–two steaks, each with a baked potato; an entire pineapple; triple pistachio ice cream; and a bottle of Scotch. Appetite drove him. Applause wasn’t enough. He wanted amazement, the gasp of a […]
Warner Bros. has released the official press release for their 70th Anniversary edition of Citizen Kane, due out on September 13, 2011. It will come in three editions: a DVD 3-disc set, priced at $49.99; a Blu ray 3-disc set priced at $64.99, and the Amazon exclusive edition which will include a fourth disc […]
Given that “The Greatest Film Ever Made” certainly deserves a Deluxe release on it’s 70th anniversary, which also happens to be how many years Orson Welles lived on the planet Earth, I would like to propose my own wish list of extras and improvements that Warner Bros Home Video can make to their upcoming Blu […]
I had never read Andrew Sarris’s reply to Pauline Kael’s infamous article “Raising Kane,” that was first published in The New Yorker in 1971. So it was a very pleasant surprise to see it turn up in the archive section of The Village Voice online. Mr. Sarris makes many salient points about the numerous flaws […]
Richard Linklater’s Me and Orson Welles had its New York City premiere on November 23, and the next day, on November 24, there was a dedication by Chris Welles Feder and Christian McKay of a plaque in memory of Orson Welles’s Mercury Theatre which once stood at the site of the current building which now […]
32 years ago, in 1978 when I was the the chairman of The Cinema Guild at a New England College, we received a grant from the Johnson-Mellon foundation for $10,000 to bring important artistic speakers to our campus for a day of interaction with students. Early in our talks with the University “committee” for the […]
While Orson Welles spent time all over the world, and in at least five of the seven continents, I’m not quite sure if he ever made it to New Zealand or Australia. However, I find it rather amazing that today, due to the internet, we can get input from people down under, just as easily […]
Coming across the Autumn, 1962 issue of Sight & Sound at a flea market recently, I was struck by a John Houseman interview, who of all people, defends Orson Welles from that absurd question that seems to have plagued him ever since the fiasco of It’s All True: “What went wrong?” In 1962, Houseman had […]
Given the recent discussion surrounding the New Yorker magazine’s attacks against Orson Welles, whether in 1945, or most famously in 1971, by Pauline Kael, it’s somewhat bizarre that today I should stumble across the May, 1972 issue of Films and Filming, right outside my house, at the Alamo Square flea market where I saw an […]
To celebrate the 93rd birthday of ORSON WELLES – May 6, 1915 – here are some fond memories from members of the cast and crew of CITIZEN KANE. I’m sure they all would be wishing Orson a very happy birthday today… PAUL STEWART – Raymond, the butler The telephone rang and I heard the unmistakable […]
Fred Camper, who writes on movies for The Chicago Reader, has posted a fascinating article by Erich von Stroheim on Citizen Kane at his website. Although it appeared in an obsure magazine called “Decision, a review of free culture” it seems amazing to me it has apparently never been reprinted or, as far as I know, even been […]
In revisiting Frank Brady’s excellent biography, CITIZEN WELLES, I came across this statement that Welles issued to the press in January, 1941, to basically counter the growing impression that Citizen Kane was based on a certain well known newspaper publisher. Given Welles own reluctance to talk about Citizen Kane in any great detail in his later years, it seems […]
I’ve known only one great cameraman: Gregg Toland, who photographed Citizen Kane. —Orson Welles, 1967 Photographing Citizen Kane was indeed the most exciting professional adventure of my career. —Gregg Toland _______________ Given the fact that Citizen Kane has long been considered the greatest film ever made, here is a wonderful piece about the cinematography for Kane, written only a […]
People always tell me how difficult Orson Welles is. The only people I’ve ever met worth working for were difficult people—because they’re interested in achieving something. Just spare me the charmers. Welles in every other way might be difficult, but when it comes to making artistic decisions he’s like the Rock of Gibraltar. —Bernard […]
The ever witty, brilliant friend of Orson Welles, writer Gore Vidal, wrote a review in 1989 of Frank Brady’s Citizen Welles and Welles own script for The Big Brass Ring. The article itself is fairly well known (it was reprinted in Interviews with Welles), but if you haven’t read it, it can be accessed here: […]
