Citizen Kane: An Accurate Portrayal Of William Randolph Hearst?
?
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). ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Citizen Kane: An Accurate Portrayal Of William Randolph Hearst?. (2007, September 13). Retrieved November 22, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Citizen-Kane-Accurate-Portrayal-William-Randolph/71133
"Citizen Kane: An Accurate Portrayal Of William Randolph Hearst?." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 13 Sep. 2007. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Citizen-Kane-Accurate-Portrayal-William-Randolph/71133>
"Citizen Kane: An Accurate Portrayal Of William Randolph Hearst?." Essayworld.com. September 13, 2007. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Citizen-Kane-Accurate-Portrayal-William-Randolph/71133.
"Citizen Kane: An Accurate Portrayal Of William Randolph Hearst?." Essayworld.com. September 13, 2007. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Citizen-Kane-Accurate-Portrayal-William-Randolph/71133.
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