Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane is the first feature film directed by Orson Welles (he had directed two short films previously), and is loosely based on the lives of the newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, the reclusive aerospace and movie mogul Howard Hughes, and the Chicago utilities magnate Samuel Insull. Welles maintained that the character is a composite of several historical individuals. Internally while it was under production, it was referred to as RKO 281. The film premiered on May 1, 1941. Endlessly discussed and dissected by critics and viewers alike, this innovative film is perhaps the most influential ever in film history.

Prints

Welles's original master film negative of Citizen Kane was destroyed in a fire in the 1970s. Until 1991, all existing theatrical prints of the film were made from copies of the original. When the film became owned by Turner Entertainment (which bought the rights to the MGM and RKO film libraries), film restoration techniques were used to produce a pristine print for a 50th Anniversary theatrical revival reissue in 1991 (released by Paramount Pictures). The 2003 British DVD edition is taken from an interpositive held by the British Film Institute. The current U.S. DVD version (released by Warner Home Video) is taken from another digital restoration, supervised by Turner.

Related Topics:
1970s - 1991 - Turner Entertainment - MGM - Film restoration - Paramount Pictures - 2003 - British - DVD - British Film Institute

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In 2003, Orson Welles' daughter Beatrice sued Turner Entertainment and RKO Pictures, claiming that the Welles estate is the legal owner of the film. Her attorney said that Orson Welles had left RKO with an exit deal terminating his contracts with the studio, meaning that Welles still had an interest in the film and his previous contract giving the studio the ownership of the film was null and void. Beatrice Welles also claimed that, if the courts did not uphold her claim of ownership, RKO nevertheless owes the estate 20% of the profits, from a previous contract which has not been lived up to.

Related Topics:
2003 - RKO Pictures

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In the 1980s, the film became the catalyst in the fight against the trend of film colorization. When Turner Entertainment announced plans to colorize the film, both public outcry and a previous clause written by Orson Welles himself led to these plans being cancelled. Reportedly, Welles roared, "tell Turner to keep his damned crayons away from my film!" when he found out about the colorization plans.

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