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"Orson, come into the light. "
Never stand in the shadows.
You were made for the light.
Always remember that.
"Now, turn around" and make a wish. Go on.
You must blow out your candles.
"One breath, now. "
That's all you get. One chance.
Are you ready?
Now.
He came to the town of magic and dreams...
a flashing star blazing through the firmament of illusion.
"He was 24 years old," and his name was orson welles.
"Sound the trumpets," "unfurl the banners, hollywood. "
The boy wonder has arrived.
"May 6, 1915."
The prodigy makes his debut on "the world stage in kenosha, wisconsin. "
"May 7. he speaks his first words," "and they are, "i am a genius. "
Subsequent developments confirm this opinion.
"At 18 he goes to new york," the cauldron of the world.
"Watch out, cauldron. " Orson has arrived.
Like hannibal over the alps...
the boy genius invades the great white way with production after production.
And then he takes to the airwaves...
step two in his plan for global domination.
This is the end now. They're running toward the east river
"thousands of them," dropping in like rats.
The war of the worlds broadcast...
sends this nation into a frenzy.
"Yes, the boy wonder has fooled us all. "
We had no idea any of this was happening.
I feel just horrible.
Mr. Welles~ mr. Welles~
how long can it possibly be before the sunny land of dreams.
Tries to harness the combustible power of this showman extraordinaire?
The winner in the welles derby is "george schaefer, head of rko pictures. "
With a contract unimaginable before the days of orson...
"mr. Schaefer captures the whirlwind," snares the beast.
Eyebrows raise and jaws drop when terms of the deal come forth.
"The boy wonder can write, direct" and star in his own projects.
The studio? "Well, they just pay the bills. "
So cometh orson.
He met the biggest of the big and charmed his way through the town.
From the brown derby to the copacabana.
From louella parsons to hedda hopper...
those rival maidens of hollywood gossip.
"And so today, almost a year" after his arrival...
we leave the boy wonder still hard at work...
developing his much-anticipated first feature.
"We're waiting, orson. "
Genius?
Who does that cocksucker think he is?
"Word is glory boy's all finished," mr. Mayer. Can't come up with a movie.
They're laying bets at rko this deal ends up with him never doing a picture.
Back to new york he goes.
"After rko boots him," let's pick him up cheap.
Have him do that war of the worlds crap as a feature.
It's money in the bank for us "and, bingo, no more genius. "
"This is hollywood, junior. " What did you expect?
And you keep coming up with the same elitist crap.
"Enough, mank. "
God~ i hear this from schaefer and everyone else.
I don't need to hear it from you.
"Heart of darkness," million-dollar budget.
No one wants to see that "that's nonsense, and you know it. "
What do you think movies are about? "Don't start this, please. "
I'm interested. What do you think movies are about?
Life's rich pageant.
"Life's rich pageant, my ass. "
People are sick to death of life.
They want make-believe.
"They want tarzan and jane," not tristan and isolde.
You know what they want?
Magic.
You know what your job is in hollywood? Put butts in seats.
It's all about selling popcorn and pepsi-colas.
Not for me it isn't.
Then you're about to become the youngest never-was...
in the history of hollywood.
Better than the oldest has been. Is it?
What are we going to write? I don't know. You tell me.
You're the boy wonder.
Well?
Jesus christ. Come on.
The old man doesn't cotton to lateness.
"Good evening, mr. Hearst. "
My name is orson welles.
"So we set traps everywhere, right?"
"And every morning," the traps would be sprung...
but there would be no mice.
What? So one night...
i noticed pops here getting out of bed...
i've got it. "'Sigmund freud, life and times. "
That's a great idea. Just got your ass kicked on joseph conrad
and now it's the id and the superego.
I'll be goddamned if he isn't springing the traps...
and leaving cheese for the goddamn mice.
"You. You and that guy disney," in love with the damn rats.
"Okay, then, manolete. "
Who?
"Manolete," the great spanish bullfighter.
Imagine clark here in a glittering suit of lights...
on the andalusian plains.
Mr. Welles is attempting semaphore.
"Bullfighting, miss davies. "
Is dear mank your bull?
"My factotum," "comrade-in-arms, ally. "
"Flunky, pimp. "
Writer. That too.
You fight many bulls in new york?
"No, when i was a tender lad... "
my father and i made a tour of the grand boulevards of europe.
When we were in spain...
i had the good fortune to sit at the knee of manolete...
the greatest bullfighter of the age.
'What is the matador's greatest enemy?" he asked me.
"Of course, i naively responded," "the bull. "
"No, the bull" is merely his adversary.
His greatest enemy is his own fear.
"You see, to kill the bull," one must first learn to think like him. "
"Having said that, he strode forth" gallantly into the ring.
"He flourished, flourished again. " Suddenly the bull charged.
"It thundered towards him," its calamitous hooves...
shaking the earth beneath manolete's feet...
"and as it was almost upon him," he stepped to the side...
flourished again and struck.
And when the dust cleared...
the sword was gone...
vanished in the bloody eye of the beast.
That is barbaric.
Of all man's sadism...
none is more depraved than his cruelty to animals.
"In spain, sir, the cruelty would be" in denying the beast a fighting end
"as in your magnificent zoo," for instance.
"And who are you, sir?" "Orson welles, sir. "
"Ah, the actor. "
And director. I wish you luck.
"In hollywood, the bull" and the matador are both slaughtered.
Why the crack about the zoo? Why not just let it lie?
Because he's a hypocrite. So what?
I like to come here. I want to be asked back.
Why? You have no place here.
Because marion's my friend.
Did you hear what he said to me?
Preaching against man's cruelty "to animals. I mean, come on~"
come here. I want to show you something.
The old man owns the biggest publishing empire in the world.
"When you have all that," you can preach whatever you want.
Like appeasing hitler.
A lot of people agree with him. He tells them what they want to hear.
As if that was something to be proud of.
Can't smoke here.
Of course.
How could i forget?
"No smoking, no drinking... "
no moral vices whatsoever.
I suppose keeping an alcoholic mistress half your age...
is considered a virtue here.
The old man has his own way of doing things.
I'll say.
"Oh, god," these parties are awful.
"You need to get out of here," rapunzel.
That's why he has the parties.
He says it's like bringing the world to me.
But it's not so bad here. What girl doesn't want to live in a castle?
Mr. Welles certainly is "a caution, isn't he?"
"And attractive," in a hammy sort of way.
Listen. Why don't you come down and stay with us for a few days?
Just tell the old man...
he needs me here.
How big is this monstrosity? The estate?
Half the size of rhode island. You're kidding.
No. It's the place god would have built if he'd had the money.
Hello. Manky.
Will you dance with me?
I'll dance with you. "Oh, good. Thank you. "
You've been naughty. Can you smell it?
"So, are you ever" gonna do a picture?
"Not you too, carole. "
"It's gonna be fine, orson. " You're gonna do just great.
You're just scared.
Am i?
"And what am i scared of, carole?"
Of being found out.
Of not being a genius.
"Goddamn it, pops. " You gotta do something.
There's no need for such language. Goddamn it.
You missed the beat.
I've got it. I know what we're going to do.
Imagine a man who has shaped his time.
A titanic figure of limitless ambition.
A man with an empire at his feet...
controlling the perceptions of everyone beneath him.
A modern feudal lord.
"The great american biography," a journey into the heart of the beast.
"Oh, no. " Don't you see it?
He's spent a lifetime making entertainment...
"out of other people's lives," and now we turn the tables on him.
It's perfect. It's perfectly suicidal.
How long have i been looking for the answer...
when all this time it's been right here under my nose?
"Every day in the newspapers," on the radio...
waiting for us in that ridiculous castle~
"orson, stop. "
I've talked to arnie. He says it's all right.
He says he's a public figure who sought "out that publicity, so legally... "
"listen to me, you child. "
He doesn't worry about legalities. Do you know why?
Because he has more power than you could even begin to imagine.
- All the more reason to do it~ because he insulted you at a party?
Because he's a hypocrite. Because he's a political turncoat.
He claims to care about the common man...
when nothing could be further from the truth.
He's a journalist. He owns hollywood.
We're the shit on his shoes.
You better go back to broadway. I expected more from you.
"Yeah, me too," but i got used to it.
"How does that feel," getting used to it?
"How does that feel, going up" to the palace and amusing the lords
and ladies with the same stories they've heard a hundred times before?
How does it feel being the ugly monkey they keep around to amuse themselves?
"I remember a man who wrote, a writer who" dazzled me with his wit and insight
who hasn't had a credit in four years...
because he's been so busy wasting himself amusing his keepers...
because he's a sycophant who's been thrown out of every hollywood studio
and no one will hire him because he's a drunk.
"I'm sorry, mank. " You must be thirsty.
Here. Have another. I wouldn't want to stand in the way of progress.
Do you honestly expect me to believe you care about me?
You don't give a fuck about anyone but yourself.
Hearst was right about you. You're just another goddamn actor.
I'm sorry.
"Orson, i don't have it" in me anymore.
"I used to have dreams too," but that's over now.
It doesn't have to be.
No studio would hire me. I'll hire you.
I just know this is the story. Everything in my life...
"all the potential, all the promise" has led to this moment...
to you and me.
"Orson, he will destroy us. "
"Take my hand, mank. "
We'll make history.
We'll scorch the earth. We will astonish them all.
Notes for a novel. My great modern tragedy.
On hearst. You're joking.
I guess great minds think alike.
You've never told me about this before. I haven't looked at it in ten years.
"More importantly," i never showed it to anyone else
you know why? Because i wanna go living
time to let go "of that ambition, old boy. "
"Rosebud. "
What?
"Marion told carole lombard...
that the old man's pet name for it is 'rosebud. "'
"My god, mank. He has a pet name" for her pussy and you never told me?
"Orson, you can't do a picture" where you have a pet name for a pussy.
"In fact, you can't do a picture" where you have any name for a pussy.
"Oh, i think we can find a way. "
"You just don't get it, do you?"
Why do you think i scrapped all this stuff?
You can't scrap this. It's too good. This is gold.
Gold. You want gold? I'll give you some gold.
This is a story you won't find written down in there or anywhere else.
It's 1924 or so...
and hearst is giving a birthday party for an old hollywood producer...
called thomas ince...
on his yacht.
And all the usuals are there... "charlie chaplin, louella, etcetera. "
And at this time marion was screwing everyone...
and so she slips off with chaplin.
Hearst sees this.
He goes absolutely nuts.
He's there on the deck with a revolver...
just blasting away like tom mix...
and he hits thomas ince "right in the chest, and he is dead. "
Dead.
The empire snaps into action.
Ince is cremated lickety-split.
No police. No inquest.
The hearst papers cover it up nice and quiet.
"The next morning, hearst offers louella" a lifetime contract...
to keep her all hush-hush.
Now you tell me.
You still want to take a shaft to a man like that?
Are you kidding me? More than ever.
It's supposed to be siam...
some kind of balinese temple.
Does it look like a temple to you?
"Marion," i've spoken to millicent.
She said no... again.
She believes it would put her soul in peril.
"Divorce is a very serious sin," evidently.
It's bullshit.
It's bullshit. She just cares "about the money, you know?"
She thinks i'll make you cut her out of the will.
I do wish you wouldn't use that language.
"He's a monster," an unfeeling monster...
like all great men.
"Yeah, but how" do we dramatize that?
Say we say there was a time when he was innocent.
There was a time when he... when he lost something.
Something he loved?
You're off there. Men like hearst don't love.
"All men love, orson," or have loved.
What about marion?
She's just another piece in his collection.
She's just like one of the animals in his zoo.
"To hearst, that is love. "i love you. " I built you a beautiful cage. "
Love on his own terms.
No?
Love on your own terms.
Those are the only terms anybody ever knows.
There's your tragedy.
"Orson, i'm in. "
What? I'll write it.
"Mank, that is the sweetest thing" you've ever said to me.
I'll call george. I'll get a secretary. "No, i'll get two secretaries. "
We can get houseman. Don't sit there. Start writing~
i just wanna know when i'm gonna see a script.
How about a month? Is that acceptable? 'Acceptable"? No.
Anything more than three weeks is totally unacceptable.
What do you want me to do?
"I've got new york on the phone," a fiscal quarter...
mank and houseman are writing already. Who?
Herman mankiewicz. Mank? That'd be a goddamn miracle
"a toast, then, jedediah," to love on my own terms.
Because those are the only terms "anybody has ever known, his own. "
Telegram from the christ child.
"Schaefer loves the idea. Stop.
Keep writing. Stop. Stop drinking. Stop.
Did you work on the jigsaw puzzles? Question mark.
Don't stop. Stop. "Love you madly, orson. "
Asshole. Stop.
So gregg toland plunks his oscar down for wuthering heights and says...
"mr. Welles," i want to shoot your picture. "
"Mr. Toland," i said, "you are the" finest cinematographer in hollywood.
Why would you want to work with a stumbling neophyte?"
"Mr. Welles," he replied... "
"the only way to learn anything new...
is to work with someone who doesn't know a thing. "
Priceless.
"The whole point, hedda," is to use the language of cinema
as though it's never been spoken before...
to challenge the audience.
Why does anyone go to the movies in the first place?
To see themselves.
"To see their own bizarre, complex," fascinating and paradoxical lives...
"orson, talk english, will you?"
The most powerful narrative tool ever invented...
and it's fallen into the hands of bankers.
"Come on, louella. There's got to be" something more to movies than money.
What's your favorite picture?
"Gold diggers, 1933."
So the transition is somehow less painful...
as the audience leaves the theater and returns to reality.
They feel as if their own lives have been touched upon...
"that they have been given, well," at least a rendition of the truth...
that finally they have been treated with...
this is all terribly interesting...
but what's all this i hear about you and dolores del rio?
"Now, orson, you know," i'm just dying to see your picture...
and i know it's gonna be boffo.
But the story's about a publisher. "You're not doing hearst, are you?"
"Good god, no. "
Our character "is more an amalgam, really... "
look into my eyes and tell me you're not doing hearst.
I'm not doing hearst.
Well?
It's too long.
Talk to houseman. He's the one who wanted wide margins.
The flashback scheme isn't working...
and keep susan and leland separate at the end...
or there's no sense of time lapse.
"If you do that," then the logic breaks down.
"Look, mank. " It's a brilliant script.
No question. Absolutely brilliant.
"It needs some shaping, that's all. " Yeah. Sure.
We should celebrate. "Drinks, housey. "
I still have three weeks left on my contract.
"If you prepare some notes," i'll do the revisions.
I don't have three weeks. Schaefer wants it yesterday.
I'll send you the revisions. And we need to change the name.
What? The title? "No, no. "
It's a grand title. "American. "
I was thinking more the character name.
Charles foster craig doesn't have the 'knives-out" poetry i was looking for.
I was thinking of "kane. "
As in "abel"?
K- a-n-e.
One strong syllable. Kane.
'Craig" is one syllable. Yes...
but it's not a great syllable.
"Thanks, housey. "
"No, i haven't been drinking" since i started this.
To my invaluable comrades.
Good-bye.
"American"?
"It's an awful title, of course," but i can't think of anything better.
Someone came up with "a sea of upturned faces"...
"which has a nice," sort of operatic ring to it.
I thought "of"john citizen, u. s. a. "... "
but that struck me as a bit warner brothers...
"or, god forbid, capra-esque. "
Citizen. What?
"Citizen kane. "
That's your title.
"Citizen kane. "
A "z" and a "k. " wouldn't look half bad "on a poster, would it?"
Don't get ahead of yourself.
These budget projections i know.
I don't know what you want me to do. I've cut the script down to the bone.
"Listen, and don't throw a fit. "
I want you to seriously think about doing war of the worlds.
"Oh, god, george, please, no. " Do war of the worlds as a feature
and everybody will be happy.
Don't ask me to do this. You're a 24-year-old novice director.
"This is difficult material," maybe impossible.
And old man hearst is gonna come down on us with all he's got.
Think of the free publicity. "Oh, please~"
"look, george," every idea has its moment.
This one is right now. If it's half as good as i think it is...
it's not a matter of good or bad. At the end of the day...
why did you got into "this business, george?"
Why?
Wasn't there a time when making pictures meant something to you...
that it mattered just a little bit...
that they were worth taking risks for?
If you look into my eyes right now and tell me to go make war of the worlds
i will.
I'll make it.
"And, yes, it'll make you money," and i honestly...
i can't think of a reason why you should let me make this picture
except that you should.
"You know, i'd do anything" to get you the hell out of my office.
Here. Go make the goddamn picture.
Tracking...
"medium shot, close-up. "
Reverse.
Medium shot.
Reverse. What lens is that? - 24
open aperture.
We used it on long voyage.
Could you run "that reel again, frank. "
That's the one there.
"I'm not sure, mr. Welles. " "I'll try. Yeah, mr. Welles. "
You fuck.
You selfish fuck.
"A studio pal, if that's" "not an oxymoron, sent it to me. "
"I thought we did it together, orson," i thought it was the two of us...
"but, you see," citizen kane by orson welles.
You took my name off the fucking script?
It's a mistake. Some steno girl obviously made a mistake.
You took my name off the script? You can't do that.
I fucking well can. I own your goddamn "script, and i can do anything i want~"
don't forget for one minute that i took...
your 350 pages of drunken rambling and made a movie out of them.
And now i've got to shoot "the son of a bitch, so thank you"
"thank you very much," but i have all i need.
And stop calling me.
Today...
today we are beginning a great adventure.
"Together, we're going to tell a story" that i think is of some importance.
"Now, i won't lie to you. I have" absolutely no idea what i'm doing.
Every one of you has had more time on a soundstage that i have.
Every one of you knows your job...
"and i, of course," am still learning mine.
I ask for your patience and your help.
That you...
allow yourselves to get a little lost with me...
to travel into the dark wood of uncertainty...
to take a few wrong turns.
"Because along the way, I... "
i think we just might discover something amazing together.
"That's swell, orson. Now, where" do you want to put the camera?
It's a director's contract. Why the hell did you sign this?
"This is a suicide note, george. " The bastard's got us by the balls~
"i trust him, harry, deep down. "
- Have you seen 24? - Yeah. I've never seen anythinglike 24
i don't believe it.
What?
"He shot three scenes," two with dialogue...
when he was only supposed to be doing camera tests.
"George, the man is obviously" an anarchist.
Yeah.
Who's two days ahead of schedule.
Son of a bitch~ 281.
Look right in the lens. Don't take "your eyes off it till i yell, " cut. "
"Thank you, darling. The lines aren't" important right now. Sit right here.
See if you can get your... she's fine~ thank you.
Look right into the camera and you'll be fine. All right? Great.
I still think we should under-crank and play it backwards.
"When i want your opinion," i'll ask for it.
"Collaboration, orson. " "Make it fast, andy~"
"call it, kit~" roll camera~
and action~
"thank you, ladies and gentlemen. " That was terrific.
"Wonderful, dot, really. " Really wonderful. Top-notch.
"On the next one, maybe you" could close your mouth.
We can go for a slightly more subtle version.
"Well done, though. "
Right.
Obviously we need to go again.
I'll be in makeup.
"Orson, you cannot just" "destroy a camera, for chrissakes. "
You know what these things cost?
"I know, george. " I feel terrible about it.
What about this one? Black tie.
We borrowed one from next door. "Stole it, really. "
I don't think they'll notice till monday.
"Look, i need" "perhaps this, mr. Welles?"
Try the other one. I'm sorry. I need agnes for another day.
Do you think you could fix it for me?
"Good. Thanks, george. " I've got to run.
What?
Action.
Rosebud?
I'll tell you about rosebud.
Cut. Let's go again.
Action.
Rosebud?
Keep rolling.
Rosebud?
I'll tell you about rosebud.
Cut. Again.
"Orson, you cannot shoot" 56 takes of one line.
It's the climax of the picture.
The audience has been waiting for two hours to find out what rosebud is.
"If they don't believe they're about to," we've let them down.
The trick doesn't work. The whole picture depends on it~
it's one line.
"Cut, print, end of story. "
Drunk. What do you care?
You don't care about anything except you.
You just want to persuade people that you love 'em so much...
that they ought to love you back.
Only you want love on your own terms.
Orson?
You want to cut?
"No, keep rolling. "
"Right. Sorry, joe. "
Anywhere in your speech.
Action.
Drunk. What do you care?
"And i'm looking at them," and they're looking back at me
waiting for something brilliant.
"The only thing is, so am i. "
Waiting for some moment of inspiration that will finally convince them all
that i'm worth all the time and trouble and money they've invested in me.
"But i'm not, am i, mank?"
I'm just a fraud who couldn't care less about anyone except himself.
Isn't that right?
I don't know. Is that what you think?
I don't know what i think. That's the problem.
I just know that i miss you and...
i was wondering if you might consider coming back.
First you wanted me out. I'm out.
I'm sorry.
This is the shooting script we've been using every day.
I thought you'd like to see it.
Did i ever tell you about my father?
"He was a drunk, my dad. "
"When my mother died," i was obliged to accompany him
on his business trips... "europe, china. "
"I suppose, in one sense," it was a way of seeing the world.
Richard head welles and his amazing boy genius.
"But he would drink," and it would get embarrassing and...
"well, i began to resent him because" "i was so sparkling, you see. "
So when we got home and i went off to school...
i decided to cut him off.
I turned my back on him because...
i couldn't have him getting in the way of my genius.
He would write me letters that i would never answer.
"He would call me," and i would ignore his calls.
"When he eventually visited me at school," i would manage to find myself...
conveniently indisposed.
"When i finally did see him again," he was in a coffin.
I was 15.
And...
"all of a sudden," he wasn't the...
the embarrassing drunk anymore.
He was my father.
He was the man who showed me the world.
Have you shot the beach scene yet?
Good. It occurred to me the other day...
that we're starting that scene completely incorrectly.
Closer.
Closer. Stop.
Can you see my shoes?
"Yeah, but we lose your head. "
Joe. Do me a favor "and stand in here, will you?"
"Look, gregg," it has to be lower.
This is the scene. We have to look up at these two men...
as pillars soaring to the sky...
towering virtues in combat...
orson~ we've been through this.
"We can't get the camera any lower," so find another goddamn shot~
what the fuck are you doing? Looks like he's tearing out the floor
it's four in the goddamn morning.
"My favorite time of day, gregg. "
I've set back the sacred cause "of reform, is that it?"
All right.
If that's the way they want it. People have made their choice.
It's obvious the people prefer jim gettys to me.
You talk about the people as though you own them...
as though they belong to you.
"Orson, i'm so goddamn tired. "
"Keep rolling, gregg. " I can't remember the lines.
"Come on, joe. You're drunk," you're angry. Use it.
We're not all hopped up on benzedrine. Some of us humans need sleep.
That's good. Now give me the goddamn line.
You've been waiting for weeks to say something to me. Don't go soft now.
You don't care about anything except you.
You just want to persuade people that you love 'em so much...
that they ought to love you back.
Only you want love on your own terms.
"A toast, then, jedediah. "
To love on my own terms.
Those are the only terms anybody ever knows.
His own.
Cut. Print. "What's next, gregg?"
That's it. We're done.
What?
We're done.
"How 'bout a real drink, then?"
"Mr. Welles," compliments of mr. Schaefer.
Daylight. Hey.
Orson? Hedda here. "Hedda, what a surprise. "
You naughty boy.
You told me that i would be the first human soul to see your masterpiece
and i read in the reporter there's a screening for the magazines tonight.
That's only a rough cut. "Oh, rough cut. "
"Been there, orson. Know the drill. " See you tonight.
This is awful. There's no music. The sound isn't even synced.
Relax. They've all seen a rough cut before.
"I know, but why hedda, george?" The magazines are one thing...
"if hedda says she's coming, you just" mix up a batch of martinis and pray.
What did that mean?
"Oh, mr. Hearst~"
hello. I am so delighted you could take my call.
I just wanted to let you know...
that i saw this orson welles picture last night.
"First screening ever," don't you know.
"And, mr. Hearst, i just" don't understand something.
I do not understand why louella has not told you...
that it's all about you.
About me? Yes.
In detail? Yes.
Thank you for this information. "No, it's my pleasure, sir. "
Yes?
"Mr. Schaefer," miss louella parsons is here.
Here? As in right outside?
"Yes, sir. "
Tell her to wait a minute. Yes
shit~
i gotta see this welles picture. I was just fixing something to drink.
You drink at 10:00 a. m.? "No, i meant... "
and i want to see the picture today.
That may be a tad difficult. "Cut the malarkey, buddy. "
The boss himself wants me to see the picture today.
He asked you personally? That's right.
Hearst?
Bingo~ i'll be back at noon.
"Oh, joy. "
"Continue with your singing, susan. "
I don't propose to have myself made ridiculous.
You don't propose to have yourself made ridiculous?
What about me? I'm the one that's gotta do the singin'.
I'm the one that gets the raspberries. Why don't you let me alone?
It's all you.
"The war with pulitzer," "the castle, marion. "
How so? The jigsaw puzzles and the career.
A man spending a fortune to make her a star. Only it's opera and not movies.
And yes?
The drinking.
Go on. The whole picture's a mess.
Jumps all over the place. Very arty.
It's all built around this sled called "rosebud" that the guy had
when he was a kid.
What did you say? "Yeah, the guy's last words... "
are about a sled he had as a kid called rosebud.
Makes no sense at all.
Rosebud. Yeah.
"So, our life is the subject" for mockery.
All of it...
every personal detail.
Thank you for your time.
"Thank you, sir. "
Miss parsons...
i have one additional question for you.
Sir?
Why were we not informed of this sooner?
Sir?
I pay you a good deal of money to be my eyes and ears in hollywood
do i not?
If you cannot provide this simple "service, then you are of no use to me. "
"But, sir" "please, be quiet. "
This young man has made a motion picture detailing my life.
This motion picture was made at a not-insignificant studio...
and you knew nothing about it.
He lied to me. He looked me in the face and told me it wasn't about you.
And how do you feel when you are lied to?
I want blood.
Good.
Retain that feeling.
Let it nourish you.
It shall nourish us both.
Randolph.
Louie. I hope you don't mind my popping in like this.
Not at all. Come on. Sit down.
What a wretched place this is.
I never come to town without feeling filthy.
You really must buy that piece of property near the castle and come north.
"I wish i could, but business. "
Which is why i'm here.
You've heard of this citizen kane picture?
Yeah. Rko.
Evidently it details the exploits of a newspaper publisher...
much like myself.
Entirely too much like myself.
No one wants their private life paraded about...
for the curiosity of the moviegoing public...
if you catch my drift.
I don't see how the release of this "picture will do anyone any good, really. "
So sue him. That's what i'd do.
"Thank you, louie. "
I'll keep it in mind.
"Say, while i'm in town, why don't we" stop by the I.a. Country club...
and play 18 holes?
Maybe we could get mr. Warner to join us...
and mr. Cohn...
and mr. Selznick...
and mr. Goldwyn.
The club is restricted.
"Oh, so it is. "
How silly of me. I sometimes forget that you're all jews.
Apparently quite a number of people forget...
if they ever knew.
See what you can do about this citizen kane picture.
"Will you, louie?" "That's right, fella. "
Mr. Hearst has authorized me to tell you that you're looking
at the most beautiful lawsuit in history if you release this picture.
"He'll bleed your little studio dry," and you can all go back to new york
and do shakespeare with the boy wonder.
Can i talk to hearst? You are talking to him.
The journal was particularly harsh on roosevelt today.
"You really oughta lay off him, pops. "
"He is the president, you know?"
He's a bolshevik.
He'll have us at war with germany within the year.
I think i'll run that picture of him in a wheelchair.
Please don't.
What do you think?
"Sir, we got the call. "
"Thank you, joseph. "
"What is it, pops?" Nothing for you to worry about
what is it?
The s. e. c. Has turned down my request for relief on the debts.
How much?
It's not something how much?
$125 million.
We're $125 million in debt?
Yes.
Wow.
How does one get $125 million in debt?
One buys things.
We open on monument valley.
Towering stalagmites reaching towards heaven...
as we track in "on a single, solitary figure. "
A quiet man. Come here.
A lonely man.
Who is he?
I don't want a hot sound. No vibrato.
You wanna do the life of christ?
"You have to admit," it has a built-in audience.
We shoot it like a western... "vibrant, stark, modern. "
All on location in the mojave desert.
His next picture. He wants to play christ.
I hope he's planning to start with the crucifixion. You read louella?
I am trying to work.
"Sorry, bernie," we'll take it outside.
Sounds wonderful.
"So, what am i today, a puny upstart" or a spoiled dilettante?
It wouldn't be that. She probably can't spell dilettante.
"And how is the country to feel when this industry...
continues to employ bedraggled foreigners and swarthy refugees
instead of real americans?
Doesn't hollywood know there's a depression on?
Don't real americans deserve work?"
At least she's off kane. Off kane?
"Orson, this is code language" to the studio bosses.
"Bedraggled foreigners and swarthy refugees. "
Who do you think that could be? I don't know. Peter lorre?
Who owns this town? Who runs every studio? Jews.
"Okay, they're jews. So what?" "They're jews, just like you. "
"Listen, you idiot. " This is just the first shot.
"The next time, she will" actually use the "j" word...
and the studio bosses will do anything to keep that word from going into print.
And hearst knows it.
"What are they gonna do, mank? Are they" gonna kill me? Is that what you think?
Why don't you ask thomas ince that question?
"Sorry, mr. Welles," we need to be able to hear.
He knows. Do you understand what that means?
That he knows? He knows.
What are you afraid of? It's in the can. There's nothing they can do.
"Yeah, and it will stay in the can. " That film will never come out.
Hearst will not allow it. The studio heads will not allow it.
That film will never see the light of day.
"Are you on their side, mank?" What?
That's what it sounds like to me. Are you on their side?
"For chrissakes, you wrote the script. " You fought for the credit.
"That's right, and i told you" "that this would happen, didn't i?"
Didn't i tell you? Huh?
"Right. Listen, i got my check. " You got yours. Let's move on.
I will not move on~
"who are they, mank?"
Who are these men you're so afraid of? Who are these tiny little fucking men?
They're accountants.
We're ready. You wanna hear it?
Switch it off.
Would everybody please leave?
"They got us, didn't they, pops?" "I mean, they nailed us, didn't they?"
Crazy old man and his whore.
Marion bought and paid for...
just like one of his goddamn statues.
"At least in the movie," he marries her.
- That picture... - i-i'm not that woman.
"I know what i could've been, and i know" what i gave up to be with you.
"I mean, they've even got" the goddamn jigsaw puzzles in there.
Why did they do that to us? Why would they do that to us?
Has he no idea of the power that controls him?
Get me louella parsons. Now.
Fancies himself an artist. That's not art.
It's an abomination. The man's a charlatan...
gossipmonger and a fraud.
Miss parsons.
Use the file.
"So, what have we got here, I.b.?"
We got faggots and commies and junkies.
We got movie stars screwing niggers and little girls.
We got jews.
"We got mgm, warner brothers," "columbia, disney and fox. "
We got hollywood.
What do you want? Kill citizen kane.
How? I don't give a shit.
"The boss has been working on some stuff," and i've been working on some stuff.
Now i want all you boys working on some stuff...
'cause if it looks like this movie is ever gonna come out...
i start running down the street with these pictures...
like a screaming woman "with her throat cut, you follow?"
How bad is it?
Ms. Davies "come on, joe, how bad is it?"
It's bad.
I've been thinking about the examiner in chicago.
It's not making any headway against the tribune.
Circulation is way down.
I think we should buy the tribune. Eliminate the competition.
And i'm starting a campaign against mr. Welles and his tawdry little film.
Yeah.
"Sure, pops. "
What do you want me to do? No one's willing to open this movie.
"So we open in dallas, detroit," kalamazoo. It doesn't matter.
"For god's sakes," we could show it in a circus tent.
"Come on, orson. " We have to go public.
"If they see kane, he's exposed. " The film is our best defense.
- If we get the press on our side... - he is the press~
goddamn it~
"george, wait. "
You don't understand. The stockholders in new york are scared shitless.
We start a publicity campaign against hearst now...
and he'll destroy every rko picture that's out there.
I'm about this far away from being fired myself...
and i'm the only friend you have in the world.
You must trust. I'll do what i can. We have to fight them.
We have to go on the radio... radio? You think this is a game?
You have any idea how many people rko employs?
"You wanna shoot yourself in the head," go ahead and do it.
I can't stop you. But you're not gonna drag this company down with you.
We need to make a statement. We have to tell people what's he's trying to do.
There's not gonna be any statements.
I'm talking about jobs. I'm talking about food on the table.
"No, you're not. You're talking about" letting them bury my picture.
"My picture. " "My picture. "
I'm so sick and tired of hearing you say that.
It's my picture too~
it's his life. Did you ever think about that?
"How can you defend him, george," after what he's done to us?
"He's a monster," a soulless monster.
"Oh, come on. " "Who are you kidding, kid?"
Huh? You're the soulless monster.
"George, please. " "George, listen to me. "
It's all i've got~
"it's all i've got, george. "
Whose fault is that?
Explain it to me then. There is nothing to explain.
Millions of dollars a year on art and statues...
and there's nothing to explain?
I will not defend my life to you.
I'm not asking you to defend anything...
"but we're in a pickle here," and we need to talk about it.
"We are in no "pickle," as you so euphemistically put it.
"You gotta wake up now, pops. "
There is nothing more to discuss.
"You don't have any money left, okay?"
That's what no one else will tell you. You are broke. You spent it all.
You cannot buy the goddamn chicago tribune. You can't buy a goddamn thing.
You are being "excessively theatrical, marion. "
"As it just so happens," i need the tribune.
That's just it. You don't need it. You don't need any of it.
"I mean, that statue, for instance. " How much did that cost?
It's 17th-century from avignon. That's in france.
I know where fucking avignon is.
There is no need for you to use that kind of language with me.
Did you need it? Did you need any of it?
I wanted it.
And there is a difference between want and need.
Not to me~
why? Just so you could show what a big man you are?
Is that it?
That's right. You've captured me exactly.
So good night.
Where are you go... hey~
"pops, you will... you will not" walk out on me this time.
You're repellent to me when you drink.
"Well, tough shit," because we have to talk about this.
"You are crude, slovenly" and unattractive...
and this discussion is at an end.
"Fuck you, mr. Kane. "
I will not have this in my home.
- I'm just trying to understand... "- no, you're not. "
"You want to condemn me," like everyone else.
You want to point your finger at the pathetic old man...
"grown lunatic with his spending," trapped in his ridiculous castle
still fighting old battles he will never win.
"No, pops. " There is nothing to understand
only this:
I am a man who could've been great...
but was not.
I was 18 when he was 50. Really?
"I just saw that big old gold ring," and i just grabbed right on...
'cause he was gonna make me a star.
And he did.
Yeah.
I wanted to do comedies...
"silly stuff, you know?"
"But, pops... "
he doesn't get comedies too good.
He kept putting me in those period pieces.
"Carole, you know" this citizen kane movie?
The one that's supposed to be about pops...
and everything and the character of susan alexander is supposed to be me?
"Marion, everyone knows" you're not like that.
That's just the thing.
I am like that.
This little girl comes from nowhere and meets this...
this guy.
"He rules the world, you know?"
"And somewhere along the line," she gets lost.
Thinking like that is only gonna drive you nuts.
You were a great star.
You had a good run.
That ought to be enough.
"All of a sudden, it's not. "
You know?
It's hell when you gotta look back and you say...
"what i could've been. "
Can i help you?
My god.
How much for all of it?
...of the nazi weapons of destruction.
It is unmistakably apparent to all of us...
that unless the advance of hitlerism is checked now...
the western hemisphere...
you got my memo. What do we do?
He's a fucking pisher. Why does hearst give a shit?
It's enough that he does. Would louella really do it?
In a new york minute. I say to hell with louella and hearst.
"This hits all of us. It's our business," and we can't take it lying down.
We all didn't make "gone with the wind, you know?"
Some of us can't afford your principles.
We gotta look at this checkbook-wise.
Who isn't hurting already?
All this jew talk?
Now he's boycotting rko ads.
"Next week, it's warners," "fox or columbia, right?"
Goddamn right. Got us nailed.
"Dates, times, photographs," for god's sake.
"I don't mean to be funny," but what could he have on mickey mouse?
He's got you so tied in with j. Edgar hoover and america first
you might as well put on a brown shirt and kiss those kiddies good-bye.
"Relax, walt. At least he don't" have you screwing snow white.
I got fuckin' errol flynn on my payroll.
"You're a smart man, louie. "
I suspect you didn't call us all here without a plan.
Give over.
"We will buy this movie," and we will destroy it.
We will assemble a fund between us...
and we will go to george schaefer...
and we will buy the negative and every print of citizen kane
and we will burn them.
If i don't hear an objection to this agenda in the next five seconds
i'll assume the motion is carried.
Very well.
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world...
if he loses his soul?
"And john the baptist says," "a night with rita hayworth. "
Just the man we're looking for. Look.
Not a single scene shot in the studio.
You'll have to help me with account... i think you should sit.
I don't want to sit down. "All right, don't sit down. "
The bosses of the other studios...
"have made an offer of $800,000... "
to buy the negative and all the prints to burn them.
They went to the stockholders in new york. I've talked to swanbeck.
I think they're going to take it.
You shit.
You treacherous little shit.
"Orson, this isn't george's fault. " Shut up.
"You wanna take my movie, george?"
Is that it? Is that what you came here for?
Take it. Why not "take it all, george, hmm?"
Why not take everything? Jesus.
"Everything i am," everything i could be is in that film.
"Take it, george. " Here. I offer it up to you.
"No, george, wait. Please. "
"George, i'm sorry. " I'm sorry.
"Look, i am... "
"george, please just, just... "
give me one more chance.
"Let me go to new york. Please," let me go talk to the stockholders.
"I promise you... i promise you," you will never see me again.
Ace of spades.
Good afternoon.
"Today, a man from germany" invaded greece.
He's already swallowed poland...
"denmark, norway and belgium. "
He's bombing london as i speak.
"Everywhere this man goes, he crushes" the life and freedom of his subjects.
He sews yellow stars in their lapels.
He takes their voices.
"In this country," we still have our voices.
"We can argue with them," and we can sing...
"and we can be heard because we are," "for the moment, free. "
No one can tell us what to say "or how to say it, can they?"
Gentlemen...
i am one voice.
That is all. My picture is one voice.
"One view, one opinion," nothing more.
"Men are dying in europe now," and americans soon will be...
so that we can surmount the tyrants and the dictators.
Will you send a message across america...
that one man can take away our voices?
So...
who is mr. Hearst...
and who is mr. Welles?
"Well, mr. Hearst built" a palace of brick and mortar...
and little wars and corpses piled high.
Mr. Welles built a palace of illusion.
It's what we call a matte painting.
It's a camera trick. It's nothing.
Nothing but a dream.
Today...
you have the chance...
to let the dream triumph.
Thank you.
We open may 1.
"It was a pretty speech, orson," but you got lucky.
Hearst is going bankrupt. It's all over the wire.
Pretty speeches "change the world, george. "
"You meant it, right?"
Does it matter?
Yes~
it matters.
We will be immediately closing 12 of the papers and the wire services
and we will be liquidating some other assets as soon as possible
and most of your land in mexico and your art and antiquities.
Mr. Hearst spent his life collecting this art.
We've been in touch with gimbel's in new york...
and they've agreed to hold a special sale.
They've given over an entire floor to the merchandise.
You'll have to go there in person "to sign the bill of sale, by the way. "
We don't know yet whether we'll be able to retain the castle.
The land has some capital.
We might be able to keep it on as an investment.
Maybe break it up into smaller units for housing.
When will it come out?
"We can't keep it a secret, sir... "
once we announce the gimbel sale and start liquidating the assets.
"Let it go, pops. " Let it go.
"Mr. Hearst, i'm not sure" if you remember who i am.
My name's orson welles. I know who you are.
Then you probably also know that i've got a picture opening tomorrow night.
Be happy to arrange some tickets "for you, if you'd like to come. "
I wonder... have you any idea the damage you've done?
Do you?
Intimately.
For every sin you've placed on my head...
i could give you a hundred others.
But i believe a man's private life should not be made public property.
Despite what you may have read in your papers...
i'd like to think that my film was more than a cheap expose of one man's life.
And what would you call it?
My man gains the world and loses his soul.
"I suppose, in some circles, that would" be considered a fair exchange.
It's not my life you sabotaged "with your film, mr. Welles. "
My battle with the world is almost over.
"Yours, i'm afraid," has just begun.
"Good luck, mr. Welles. "
Kane would've taken the tickets.
It's my birthday this week. "Do you know that, george? Twentysix. "
Happy birthday. Ain't it the bee's knees...
to see all the high muckety-mucks dolled up like aztecs for human sacrifice?
You gonna watch? I know how it ends. Rosebud's the sled
mank. Rosebud's the sled.
Come on. It doesn't matter. They'll hate it anyway.
"Not enough close-ups," too many new york actors.
"Knock it off, mank. " "Relax, kid. You made a great picture. "
Now we have to convince them.
"So, does this mean you're in" for the life of christ?
I got the ax this morning.
"Oh, you're kidding?"
It's all right. "I made my choices, same as you. "
This whole hearst nightmare
who's gonna remember it? Nobody.
We'll be lucky if they remember the goddamn movie.
What have i done? Come on.
He'll land on his feet. He always does.
Let's get a drink.
"We pulled it off," "didn't we, mank?"
Depends on what side you're on.
"Look, mank, i never meant to... "
sure you did. "Anyway, was it worth it?"
I don't know.
I can't imagine doing it any other way.
I suppose it's just my character.
"It won't be easy," having made your masterpiece at 26
is that what you think?
That i'm just gonna burn out at the ripe old age of 26?
"All stars burn out, orson. " It's the flame that counts.
To the flame to the flame