Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #263743 in DVD
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: French, English
• Subtitled in: French
• Running time: 83 minutes

Amazon.com
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

Customer Reviews

Great film marred mostly by DVD inadequacies
Telling true stories is always a tricky affair. Unlike simple fiction, you have to tell the truth *and* a good story simultaneously.

I don't know how good the *truth* is in RKO 281. I'm not a CITIZEN KANE expert. The closest I come is being able to mention that the screenplay is based on an acclaimed PBS documentary. If PBS' history was right, I guess, RKO 281 stands a better chance of being real as well.

I do know, however, that the *story* of RKO 281 is good enough that I want to *believe* it's the truth. In this current era of unrestricted parody and vigorously litigated free speech cases, it's hard to imagine a time in America where artistic criticism of a private individual would've caused movie studios consternation, but RKO 281 convincingly captures the fear of the period. Along the way, it gives us a tantalizing peek into the lives of the people involved with CITIZEN KANE, dropping hints about their personalities. I found myself constantly wanting to know more about the characters than this movie told, but there's enough characterization here for a great story. This is, after all, not a biography of Orson Wells or William Randolph Hearst, but the story of the making of one film.

HBO managed to assemble a stellar cast to inhabit the lives of these characters for this made-for-cable movie, and the money was obviously worth it. Each major character is consistently well acted, and one can't help but be drawn into their stories. John Malkovich and Liev Schreiber's Mankiewicz and Wells play particularly well off each other, defining the moral heart of CITIZEN KANE as they show themselves to be each other's conscience. Having the friendship parallel the creation of the film is a clever dramatic tool, serving up a human subplot while simultaneously moving along the greater narrative.

Absorbing as the characters are, however, it's not a perfect film. Details about the Hearst side of the argument are sketchier, and despite attempts to explore the personal relationship between Hearst and his mistress, we're left asking significant questions about him. Was he really as cold-blooded as portrayed here, or was he just personally wounded by CITIZEN KANE? What happened to his threat to expose Hollywood if the movie was released? Though in decline, he still retained newspapers at the time of the movie's release, so why didn't he carry through with his threat to publish details about Hollywood's private lives? Wouldn't that have sold papers and increased his revenue at a time when he needed the money? RKO 281 builds Hearst up as a heavy in its first hour, and then kind of just forgets about that side of him in the second. In my mind, there's a metamorphosis of his character from confident to defeated that isn't sufficiently explained in the movie.

[DVD notes: For a film about the making of film, this DVD has ironically no additional features. This is an entirely criminal example of neglect, and the film loses mass quantities of brownie points for it. At the very least there should've been a director's commentary. Additionally I think it would've made some great sense to have packaged this as a double DVD, along with the PBS documentary.]

An edible version of historical events
I have to disagree with those who look at this as an historical narrative. This is a great story of a man fighting against a system that treated its employees as slaves. Actors, directors and writers were loaned and traded at the whim of the powerful studio bosses at the time of Kane. This shows the will of one brash, arrogant, young man who dared to stand up to that power and fight for the film he thought should be made.
This may not be historically 100% accurate, but it doesn't need to be. It needs to be the spirit, not the letter. And I believe that it is. Wells was one of the most important people in the history of film, and this dramatizes his beginnings. We should view it as such, and not as a documentary about the making of Kane.
I am in the camp that feels that this is not even Welle's best film. I feel that Touch Of Evil is a better film. But if it were not for Kane, there would have been no Evil.
(Trivia, for the non-movie-buffs. In this film they ask Welles to direct a film version of War Of The Worlds. He actually wanted to direct a version of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." The studio wouldn't let him. 30+ years later, Francis Ford Coppola wanted to film a version of "Heart of Darkness." Both times, the studio turned them down, saying it was not a viable film. While it may be argued that in the hands of Welles or Coppola "Darkness" may have been viable, this is an example of studios having divine inspiration. Their denials gave us Kane and The Godfather. Both were the second choices of the directors. Thank you RKO and Paramount.)

Great Story Of The Making Of Citizen Kane
I saw this movie on TV over here during an Orson Welles day, right before they screened Citizen Kane, and it was a perfect prequel to the movie. I had seen neither before that night, and since have both become 2 of my all time favourites. Gritty and very frank look at Hollywood, sleaze, and corruption in the WWII era.

John Malkovich is stupendous, as is Liev Schreiber. James Cromwell gives great support as well as the maniacal Hearst.