Citizen Kane - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[marc]

For the opening shot of the "El Rancho" sequence where the camera appears to move through a gap in the neon sign, a collapsible sign had to be built that could be split in two to allow the camera to pass through.

[carl]

Superstar Marion Davies said in her memoir, "The Times We Had," which she recorded in 1951, that she never saw the film and that she "had no anger toward Orson Welles."

[janice]

Despite the enormous controversy surrounding the film, it actually passed the review of the Hays Office, the self-regulatory censorship office that set production codes in Hollywood. It's actually surprising that the film passed without incident, given the power that someone like William Randolph Hearst could have brought to bear on such an organization.

[bernard]

Although Marion Davies is frequently held up as the model for Susan Alexander Kane, the character was more likely to have been influenced by opera-singer-turned-film-actress Hope Hampton and opera-singer-turned-botanical-garden-founder Madama Ganna Walska.

[bessie]

The character Jedediah Leland is based on celebrated newspaper columnist Ashton Stevens, drama critic for the San Francisco Examiner and later of the Chicago Herald-American, noted interviewer to the stars and man-about-town. His brother, actor Landers Stevens, appears uncredited in the film as an investigator. Ashton was the uncle of director George Stevens, Landers' son.

[darrell]

William Randolph Hearst was infuriated by this movie, obviously based on his life. According to an essay written for the "New York Review of Books" by Gore Vidal "Rosebud" was Hearst's name for long-time mistress Marion Davies' clitoris. Some other reports claim screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz took the name from a bicycle he owned as a child. Either way, the discussions of "Rosebud's" origin are difficult to date any earlier than the 1970s, as feared retribution by Hearst and, following his death, many of his devotees made the subject taboo.

[beth]

Gregg Toland was really eager to work with the young maverick director Orson Welles as he was keen to be more experimental in his work.

[marc]

The lengthy scene where the older Jedediah Leland is interviewed at the old folks' home was Joseph Cotten's very first scene in front of a Hollywood camera. Orson Welles' broken ankle had forced the rescheduling of this scene, which originally was supposed to be shot towards the end of the film, so Cotten hadn't gotten around to learning his lines yet. Consequently he was supposed to do the scene from cue cards but because his old-age make-up included contact lenses dipped in milk and a wig that wouldn't stay on (hence the sun visor) Cotten took a couple of hours out to learn the lines properly.

[liam]

The film showcased a technique called "universal focus." To get the image of Kane and the poster picture during the speech sequence, short lenses were used. At the same time, the key light (the main lights) were gradually increased to get both images sharp and clear.

[sylvia]

To Orson Welles' astonishment, Gregg Toland visited him at his office and said, "I want you to use me on your picture." He had seen some of the Mercury stage productions (including Caesar) and said he wanted to work with someone who had never made a movie. RKO hired Toland on loan from Samuel Goldwyn Productions in the first week of June 1940.

[carl]

After production wrapped, William Randolph Hearst forbade any advertisement of the film in any of his newspapers--or indeed any other RKO movies--and offered to buy the negative from studio head George Schaefer with a view to destroying it. Fortunately Orson Welles had already previewed the film to influential industry figures to rave reviews, so it was granted a limited theatrical release. Critics from non-Hearst newspapers fell over themselves praising the film. The film itself was not reviewed in any Hearst newspaper until the mid-1970s, when the film critic for Hearst's "Los Angeles Herald-Examiner", Ray Loynd, finally reviewed it.

[addison]

Judy Holliday tested for the role of Susan Alexander (under her real name Judy Tuvim).

[nina]

At the beginning of "News on the March" the several shots of buildings with Spanish architecture were filmed at San Diego's Balboa Park. The statues "El Cid" and "Youthful Diana" were also located in Balboa Park. Both statues are by Anna Hyatt Huntington (1876-1973). "El Cid" is still standing. "Youthful Diana" is not currently visible but is owned by the San Diego Museum of Art. The large birdcage in the newsreel is one of two located at the San Diego Zoo.

[amber]

When The March of Time narrator Westbrook Van Voorhis asked for $25,000 to narrate the News on the March sequence, William Alland demonstrated his ability to imitate Van Voorhis and Orson Welles cast him.

[bryan]

At 1h 17m 33s there is an extreme closeup of typebars striking the paper. The same kind of shot is used to open the film "All the President's Men", 35yrs later.

[stephanie]

Much of the music used in the phony newsreel is stock music from RKO's film Five Came Back (1939).

[kylie]

Dispute still rages over ownership of the original idea for the script, with many claiming that it was the brainchild of co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz. In his school days, Orson Welles wrote a play titled "Marching Song." Though never produced, it was the exploration of a public figure through the testimonies of the people in his life. Mankiewicz certainly wrote the first draft of the screenplay, which took him about six weeks, though the draft only ran about a hundred pages and had only the broadest strokes for what would become the final script.