The Suppression of Citizen Kane

It's the evening of October 30th, 1938, in a small suburban house in New Jersey.

A middle-aged woman stands in her kitchen, cleaning up after dinner.

Her husband has disappeared into the next room to read the newspaper.

So the woman flicks on the bulky radio standing on the sideboard.

As she tunes from station to station, an urgent, scratchy voice catches her ear.

The woman stops the dial.

Rising up now, and the crowd falls back.

It seemed plenty that...

Of course, it's not very experienced, but you can tell me I can't find words...

The woman listens intently, the dirty dish is now forgotten.

She calls out to her husband in the next room, but he doesn't answer.

So she calls again, louder this time, as the radio broadcast continues.

We are bringing you an eyewitness account of what's happening on the Wilmeth Farm, Groversville, New Jersey.

New Jersey?

Hearing these words, the woman shouts again, and her husband stomps grumpily into the room.

But before he can complain about the interruption, his wife drags him over to the radio and tells him to just listen.

Wait a minute, something's happening.

As they make out a small beam of light against a mirror.

Without saying a word, the man takes hold of his wife's hand.

The couple stands around the radio, listening with deepening alarm to the seemingly live broadcast.

A terrible attack on America is underway.

But then, just as the husband is wondering whether to fetch his gun, another voice cuts in.

You are listening to a CBS presentation of Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater on the Air in an original dramatization of the War of the Worlds by HG.

Wells.

The man pulls his hand free from his wife.

A dramatization.

It's just a play.

And with a scowl, he switches the radio off and marches back to his chair in the other room.

The woman waits a moment, then shuts the kitchen door and turns the radio back on.

Those preachers know what that means.

This extraordinary broadcast in October 1938 makes newspaper headlines across America.

Stories of the panicked responses of unwitting listeners quickly become widespread.

The War of the Worlds adaptation is the work of a remarkable young director named Orson Welles.

Just 23 years old, Orson is already renowned as one of the brightest talents in American theater.

And it's not long before the world's biggest movie studios come calling, and soon Orson will be given the chance to make his first film.

But the boy wonder of the theater world won't fight it so easy in Hollywood.

Orson will have to endure a long and difficult journey and come through a bitter feud with one of the most powerful men in the country before his debut film Citizen Kane finally premieres on May 1, 1941.

From Noiser and Airship, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is History Daily.

History is made every day.

On this podcast, every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is May 1st, 1941, The Suppression of Citizen Kane.

It's late October, 1939, at a movie studio in Hollywood, California, 18 months before the premiere of Citizen Kane.

The young director Orson Welles chews on his pipe and leans through a fog of tobacco smoke to inspect an intricate model.

Stretched out on a tabletop in front of him is a miniature harbor complete with buildings, water, and a small steamship moored at the dock.

It's a set planned for his first film, an adaptation of the classic Victorian novel, Heart of Darkness.

Orson picks up a kind of periscope from the table and peers through it, planning angles and possible shots.

He doesn't want to leave anything to chance.

His first film must be perfect.

It took a lot to tempt him to Hollywood.

Orson's main love is still the theater.

But RKO Pictures made him an offer he couldn't refuse, a lucrative deal to write, produce, direct, and act in two movies.

Most importantly for the young man, Orson has been given near total creative control.

It's almost unheard of in Hollywood, especially for a rookie.

But such is Orson's reputation that the head of RKO, George Schaeffer, was determined to sign him up.

But Heart of Darkness is proving a difficult book to adapt for the screen.

Orson's cast has already arrived to start filming, but the production start date is pushed back again and again as Orson struggles to get his ambitious vision across to his crew.

The young director has an unusual approach in mind with no cuts or edits between scenes.

Instead, he wants the camera to be moving constantly, acting almost as another character in the story.

But all this is complicated and costly.

The budget keeps climbing, reaching now over a million dollars, a huge sum for a movie.

And more than twice the budget agreed to in Orson's contract with RKO.

So with the technical difficulties and the budget ballooning, Orson and RKO decide to tackle a less ambitious project first.

In late 1939, Heart of Darkness is shelved in favor of an espionage comedy.

But Orson is uninspired by the material and soon that project is sputtering out as well.

By the beginning of 1940, many in Hollywood are beginning to wonder whether the theater's great Wunderkind is all he's cracked up to be.

It's been months since Orson signed his contract and RKO still has nothing to show for it.

But that's when Orson starts to work on a new idea with a new collaborator, veteran screenwriter Herman J.

Mankiewicz.

Orson first met Mank, as he's commonly known, in New York working in the theater.

But in early 1940, Mank is laid up in bed in Los Angeles, recovering from a car crash and more than willing to help Orson out.

Orson tells him that he wants to write a story about a larger than life, almost Shakespearean figure that he could use to explore modern America.

Mank thinks he has the ideal person to base it on, media tycoon William Randolph Hearst.

Over the decades, this newspaper man has evolved from a progressive young upstart to an old man with fascist sympathies.

It's a story that both Orson and Mank feel they could get their teeth into.

So, for the next six months, these two men forge a fractious but productive collaboration.

By June 1940, production is finally underway on Orson's first feature film, a movie he calls Citizen Kane.

A dark auditorium at RKO Studios has transformed into a movie set.

Cast and crew crowd into the little room to film one of the first sequences in the film.

In it, a journalist is tasked by his boss with finding out the meaning behind the dying words of Charles Foster Kane, a famous businessman.

That quest drives the rest of the story.

After completing this scene, filming continues for another four months.

It's exhausting for Orson in particular because he isn't only directing Citizen Kane, he's starring in it as well.

Portraying the main character's transformation from a young to old man requires hours in the makeup chair every morning.

But Orson uses this time to discuss the day shooting with his crew.

Although not as ambitious as his ideas for Heart of Darkness, Citizen Kane is still employing unusual filming techniques which require careful planning.

After an additional two weeks of reshoots in late November, 1940, by the end of the year, filming on Citizen Kane is complete.

But as the final picture is assembled and screenings are planned, the film will come to the attention of an old man who will do anything to stop it from being released, the newspaper baron himself, William Randolph Hearst.

It's early January 1941 in Hollywood, California, three months before the release of Citizen Kane.

Journalist Luella Parson stares at a letter in disbelief, her cheeks burning with humiliation.

It's from the media mogul William Randolph Hearst.

He's one of the most powerful men in America, and he's angry with Luella.

He wants to know why he's only just now finding about this scurrilous new movie from RKO, Citizen Kane.

Luella is one of Hollywood's top gossip columnists.

The 59-year-old works for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, one of the many newspapers owned by Hearst.

He relies on Luella to pick up any gossip or news in Hollywood that could impact his business, but here Luella has dropped the ball.

She knows about Citizen Kane, of course.

Everyone in Hollywood has been keeping tabs on Orson Welles' film debut, and Luella has written several stories promoting it, but she's never been told what the story is really about.

Now, a rival journalist has scooped her.

In January 1941, the flamboyant Hedda Hopper was invited to a preview screening of a rough cut of Citizen Kane.

She was stunned.

The film's main character was clearly based on Hurst, and after the screening, Hedda wrote a review blasting the film as corny, old-fashioned, and a vicious and irresponsible attack on a great man.

Hurst has read Hedda Hopper's article, and he's angry.

Now, the humiliated Luella have to make amends.

She demands a personal screening of Citizen Kane, which she attends alongside Hurst's company lawyers.

But she walks out halfway, disgusted by what she's seen.

Luella then begins a campaign against Citizen Kane and its young director Orson Welles.

Drawing on all her many contacts and favors, she twists the arm of every power broker she knows in Hollywood to help suppress the film.

Meanwhile, Hurst bans any mention of the new movie, by his newspapers and radio stations.

And he warns theaters across the country not to screen the film, telling owners they will be sued for libel if they do.

It's clear to Orson Welles that he's made a powerful enemy.

He may have finally completed his first film, but now it seems nobody will ever see it.

Despite Orson's devotion to and pride in his film, no date is set for its premiere as its fate comes to rest with lawyers.

Bruised by his experience in Hollywood, Orson jumps at the opportunity to leave it behind.

In February 1941, Orson has offered the chance to return to New York to direct a play, and he can't pack his bags fast enough.

Back on Broadway, Orson throws himself into his work with typical ferocity, but he still can't stop thinking about Citizen Kane.

He hopes that RKO's president, George Schaeffer, will be able to turn things around, but the studio head fails to convince RKO's nervous board to release Citizen Kane.

And it doesn't help that Hearst's intimidation attempts only continue.

Soon George gets a visit from a fellow Hollywood executive.

The man comes with an offer from a group of producers, including the legendary Louis B.

Mayer.

They promise to reimburse RKO for the full cost of making Citizen Kane if the studio agrees to shelve the film and destroy every copy.

For some at RKO, this offer is tempting.

In New York, Orson fears that a deal may be done behind his back.

But just when it seems that the director is going to lose his battle with William Randolph Hearst, the old man overreaches.

In early April, 1941, CBS broadcasts a radio play written by Orson.

It's an inoffensive tribute to American democracy and civil liberties.

But as soon as it's aired, the play becomes a target in Hearst's Vendetta.

His newspapers dismiss the radio drama as communist propaganda and attack its director as a Marxist.

This proves an accusation too far.

Other media outlets turn on Hearst.

As the Chicago Sunday Times puts it, if it weren't sad, it would be silly.

William Randolph Hearst has peaked with Orson Welles.

The rest is camouflage.

The misguided character assassination will win huge sympathy for Orson and arouse curiosity about Citizen Kane.

At RKO, George Schaeffer will finally be able to convince his doubting board of directors to take advantage of this free publicity and release the film Orson has made.

Finally, a date will be set for the premiere, and despite Hearst's attempts at intimidation, the world will get to see Citizen Kane after all.

Thank you.

Thanks.

It's the evening of May 1st, 1941, in the heart of New York City.

Outside the RKO Palace Theater on Broadway, Orson Welles and RKO President George Schaeffer smile for the flashing cameras.

The sidewalk is packed with crowds, von Lookers and journalists, with a thin line of New York policemen holding the public back.

Above the marquee is an enormous photograph of Orson, and lit up in enormous letters are the words Orson Welles, Citizen Kane.

With one last smile for the crowds, Orson and George turn and walk together into the theater.

The premiere of Citizen Kane is about to begin.

At last, audiences are able to see the film that everyone in America has been talking about.

The critics love it.

The New York Times calls Citizen Kane close to being the most sensational film ever made in Hollywood.

Newsweek goes even further, declaring Orson the best actor in the history of acting.

Later, the film will win Orson and his co-writer Herman J.

Mankiewicz the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

But despite all the praise, Citizen Kane is not the box office smash Orson and RKO hope for.

The malign efforts of William Randolph Hearst may not have shut the film down completely, but they still checked its momentum.

Many theaters never show Citizen Kane, and after a limited release, the film seems destined to be quickly forgotten.

But in the 1950s, Citizen Kane will be rediscovered when it's shown on television.

Over the decades, it would become regarded as a classic, one of the greatest and most influential films of all time.

Orson himself will go on to have a four-decade career as a writer, director and actor.

But despite all his later achievements, he will perhaps never surpass his first film, the brilliant Citizen Kane, which finally had its premiere after a long and bitter battle on May 1st, 1941.

Next, on History Daily, May 2nd, 1963.

Amid struggles over segregation in the Southern United States, all eyes turn to Birmingham, Alabama, where a group of children become unlikely foot soldiers in the fight against racial discrimination.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily.

Hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Emily Berth.

Sound design by Molly Bogg.

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by William Simpson.

Produced by Alexandra Currie Buckner.

Executive producers are Steven Walters for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.