On today’s episode, I talked with Christian Palacios, an old soccer and AP World history classmate and he picked a film that is steeped in both world and film history, and that film is, Citizen Kane. At the age of 16, Welles gets his acting debut using the gift of the gab in Dublin in 1931, fast forward top 1935 where he makes his radio debut, on CBS, a year later he establishes himself as a director with The Voodoo Macbeth, which featured an all-black cast adaptation of the accursed play. In 1937 he established Mercury Theater and opened with a powerful anti-fascist adaptation of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, titled Caesar: Death of a Dictator and at the age of 23 he shocked the world over with War of the Worlds.
All of these achievements led up to what is known as the greatest film contract ever written, one in which said he would provide two films to RKO Pictures both with complete creative control that means producing, co-writing, acting, and editing an unheard of and mocked notion at the time, especially for a new film director. He teamed up with writer Herman Mankiewicz, and Directory of Photography, Gregg Toland, one man had a vendetta the other, wanted to break new ground and that greatest of all-time contract, combined with two of Hollywood’s best behind the scenes men, they soon resulted in arguably the greatest film ever made, Citizen Kane.
Citizen Kane follows a reporter on assignment to find out the meaning of the last word of the greatest media mogul in the 20th century, Charles Foster Kane, Rosebud. Our reporter visits both surviving and deceased mentors, partners, friends, and an ex-wife to figure out the placement of the last piece to the jigsaw that was Charles Foster Kane’s life. So sit back, relax, and watch out for any screaming cockatoos.
You can purchase Citizen Kane here.
Cinemallennials is a podcast where myself and another millennial are introduced to a classic film for the very first time ranging from the birth of cinema to the 1960s. Myself and my guest will open your eyes to the vast landscape of classic film as we discuss the films’ performers, their performances, those behind the camera, and how they and their films still influence our world today.
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