Other Titles • RKO 281: The Battle Over Citizen Kane (1999)
Synopses for RKO 281 (1999)
1.
This HBO mini-series tells the story behind the legendary movie CITIZEN KANE, which had a working title of "RKO #281." It's the story of the battle between Orson Welles (director and star of CITIZEN KANE), and William Randolph Hearst (whose real life bore an incredibly strong resemblance to the movie's main character).
(12 votes)
2.
New from executive producers Tony Scott (Enemy Of The State) and Ridley Scott (Thelma And Louise), RKO 281, the working title for Citizen Kane, has been called the greatest movie of all time. Its visionary creator, Orson Welles, was only 24 when he arrived in Hollywood following the acclaim and scandal that erupted over the live radio broadcast of War Of The Worlds.
This was to be his first motion picture. The subject? An aging, obsessive newspaper publisher who controlled his enemies as ruthlessly as he controlled his friends; whose lavish estate was half the size of Rhode Island; and whose mistress was destined for fame whether she wanted it or not.
He would bear so close a resemblance to the wealthy newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, that Hearst himself would do anything to shut the movie down.
The battle between Welles and Hearst over Citizen Kane is the stuff of legend, rich with tales of sexual blackmail, money changing hands and threats behind closed doors. Now those doors are being opened.
Take a front-row seat. The battle over RKO 281 is about to begin.
(10 votes)
3.
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
(9 votes)
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