Citizen Kane trailer | |
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Ending title card | |
Directed by | Orson Welles |
Written by | Orson Welles |
Produced by | Orson Welles |
Starring | Ray Collins Joseph Cotten Everett Sloane |
Narrated by | Orson Welles |
Cinematography | Harry J. Wild |
Production company | |
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 4 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Citizen Kane trailer is a four-minute, self-contained, "making of" promotional short film by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre, released in 1940 to promote the film Citizen Kane . Unlike other standard theatrical trailers of the era, it did not feature any footage of the actual film itself, but was a wholly original pseudo-documentary piece. It is considered by numerous film scholars such as Simon Callow, Joseph McBride and Jonathan Rosenbaum to be a standalone short film, rather than a conventional trailer, and to represent an important stage in developing Welles's directorial style.
How do you do, ladies and gentlemen? This is Orson Welles. I am speaking for the Mercury Theatre, and what follows is supposed to advertise our first motion picture.
— Orson Welles's narration in the Citizen Kane trailer
The film takes the form of a tour around the film set, while the precise nature of the film is kept under wraps, in keeping with the secrecy built up around the Mercury Theatre's debut feature. This was partly born out of necessity, to prevent William Randolph Hearst from knowing in advance that the film was a parallel of his life.
The film's producer, director, co-writer and star Orson Welles— then an established radio star—does not appear in person, but serves as the unseen narrator, introducing members of the cast.
There are several specially filmed excerpts of the film in rehearsal, with each member of the principal cast out of costume, reciting a signature line of their character, and stressing that the film's title character prompts extreme reactions from different people. The trailer also contains a number of trick shots, including one of Everett Sloane appearing at first to be running into the camera. Sloane actually runs into the reflection of the camera in a mirror.
The music heard throughout the trailer is the publisher's theme, "Oh, Mr. Kane". Welles heard the tune, "A Poco No" by Pepe Guízar, in Mexico. [1] : 57 The special lyrics were written by Herman Ruby. [2] The music was arranged by Conrad Salinger and is heard during the end titles of Citizen Kane. [3]
Kane is a hero, and a scoundrel; a no-account, and a swell guy; a great lover, a great American citizen, and a dirty dog. It depends on who's talking about him. What's the real truth about Charles Foster Kane?
— Orson Welles's closing narration in the Citizen Kane trailer
The promotional short was filmed at the same time as Citizen Kane itself, and offers the only existing behind-the-scenes footage of the film. It had a slightly different crew, with the director of photography being Harry J. Wild rather than Citizen Kane's Gregg Toland. The trailer was filmed at Toland's suggestion. [1] : 360
"I wrote the outline of the trailer and shot stuff for it while we were still shooting the movie," Welles recalled. "Because you see something that you're doing, and you say, 'That would be good for the trailer, you know?' Even if it wouldn't work in the film." [4]
As it is classified as a trailer, no copyright was ever registered on the work, and it is now in the public domain. Consequently, it can now be freely viewed on YouTube, and other video websites.
Numerous film critics have treated the trailer as a cinematic work in its own right, arguing it represents a critical stage in the development of Welles's directorial style.
Jonathan Rosenbaum has argued that all of Welles's films can be divided into narrative stories and documentary essays. He points to this short as being the first example of the latter from Welles, and that it is particularly important in light of the director's later experiments with the mockumentary format, including It's All True (1942), Around the World with Orson Welles (1955), F for Fake (1973), The Other Side of the Wind (1970-6), Filming Othello (1978), and the later versions of Whatever Happened to Don Quixote? (1957–85). [5]
At the time, it was almost unprecedented for a film trailer to not actually feature anything of the film itself; and while the film Citizen Kane is frequently cited as a ground-breaking, influential film, Simon Callow argues its trailer was no less original in its approach. Callow writes that it has "great playful charm ... it is a miniature documentary, almost an introduction to the cinema ... Teasing, charming, completely original, it is a sort of conjuring trick: without his face appearing once on the screen, Welles entirely dominates its five [sic] minutes' duration." [6]
Similarly, Welles biographer Frank Brady has written "Since the film promised to be unlike any other ever made in Hollywood, Orson wanted the trailer also to be unlike any other. He spent weeks on scripting, shooting, and editing it, and emerged with a punchy and intriguing look at the behind-the-scenes life of the film. It ... stood out from all the other trailers coming out from Hollywood, clarifying that Citizen Kane was going to be something special." [7]
In a 2006 essay on the trailer for Citizen Kane, film scholar Paul Salmon notes that the short film has not been included in filmographies by Welles's biographers and is not mentioned in Robert Carringer's exhaustive book, The Making of Citizen Kane. "But there is absolutely no doubt about the importance of the work within the context of Welles studies," Salmon writes, "especially with respect to its uncanny anticipation of so many of the key debates that have shaped critical discourse on Welles." [8]
The spirit of generosity inherent in Welles's emphasis on introducing the Mercury Players operates within the parameters set by Welles's role as the maestro conducting the proceedings, or, to follow Callow, as the master magician who conjures up all the trailer's tricks. Already, before the debates around the authorship of Kane, the trailer constitutes a deeply ambiguous work in terms of Welles's attitude toward collaborative filmmaking. And while there is a suggestion of disdain for the "ballyhoo" of commercial filmmaking, the trailer absolutely revels in show biz and its deconstruction. [8]
Near the end of his career, Welles made one more extended film trailer with wholly original material: a nine-minute F for Fake trailer (1976), made three years after the film itself, in anticipation of the European production's American debut.
The Citizen Kane trailer was first made available to a home audience on the 1987 Voyager laserdisc edition of Citizen Kane. [9] Subsequently, Gary Graver's 1993 documentary Working With Orson Welles contained the trailer, and numerous DVD editions of Citizen Kane have contained the trailer as an extra, including the 2011 Blu-ray release and the 2021 4K Ultra HD release by The Criterion Collection. [10]
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film directed by, produced by, and starring Orson Welles. Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay. The picture was Welles's first feature film.
George Orson Welles was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time.
Bernard Herrmann was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest film composers. Alex Ross writes that "Over four decades, he revolutionized movie scoring by abandoning the illustrative musical techniques that dominated Hollywood in the 1930s and imposing his own peculiar harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary."
Gregg Wesley Toland, A.S.C. was an American cinematographer known for his innovative use of techniques such as deep focus, examples of which can be found in his work on Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941), William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath, and The Long Voyage Home. He is also known for his work as a director of photography for Wuthering Heights (1939), The Westerner (1940), Ball of Fire (1941), The Outlaw (1943), Song of the South (1946) and The Bishop's Wife (1947).
The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio programs and motion pictures. The Mercury also released promptbooks and phonographic recordings of four Shakespeare works for use in schools.
F for Fake is a 1973 docudrama film co-written, directed by, and starring Orson Welles who worked on the film alongside François Reichenbach, Oja Kodar, and Gary Graver. Initially released in 1974, it focuses on Elmyr de Hory's recounting of his career as a professional art forger; de Hory's story serves as the backdrop for a meandering investigation of the natures of authorship and authenticity, as well as the basis of the value of art. Far from serving as a traditional documentary on de Hory, the film also incorporates Welles's companion Oja Kodar, hoax biographer Clifford Irving and Orson Welles as himself. F for Fake is sometimes considered an example of a film essay.
The Cat's Meow is a 2001 historical drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, and starring Kirsten Dunst, Eddie Izzard, Edward Herrmann, Cary Elwes, Joanna Lumley, Jennifer Tilly, and Ronan Vibert. The screenplay by Steven Peros is based on his 1997 play of the same title, which was inspired by the mysterious death of film mogul Thomas H. Ince that occurred on William Randolph Hearst's yacht during a weekend cruise celebrating Ince's birthday in November 1924. Among those in attendance were Hearst's longtime companion and film actress Marion Davies, fellow actor Charlie Chaplin, writer Elinor Glyn, columnist Louella Parsons, and actress Margaret Livingston. The film provides a speculative assessment on the unclear manner of Ince's death.
The Magnificent Ambersons is a 1942 American period drama written, produced, and directed by Orson Welles. Welles adapted Booth Tarkington's Pulitzer Prize–winning 1918 novel about the declining fortunes of a wealthy Midwestern family and the social changes brought by the automobile age. The film stars Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Tim Holt, Agnes Moorehead and Ray Collins, with Welles providing the narration.
The Battle Over Citizen Kane is a 1996 American documentary film directed and produced by Thomas Lennon and Michael Epstein, from a screenplay by Lennon and Richard Ben Cramer, who also narrates. It chronicles the clash between Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst over the production and release of Welles's 1941 film Citizen Kane, which has been considered the greatest film ever made.
Orson Welles (1915–1985) was an American director, actor, writer, and producer who is best remembered for his innovative work in radio, theatre and film. He is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time.
The Hitch-Hiker is a radio play written by Lucille Fletcher. It was first presented on the November 17, 1941, broadcast of The Orson Welles Show on CBS Radio, featuring a score written and conducted by Bernard Herrmann, Fletcher's first husband. Welles performed The Hitch-Hiker four times on radio, and the play was adapted for a notable 1960 episode of the television series The Twilight Zone.
This Is My Best is an American radio anthology series, sponsored by Cresta Blanca wines, which ran on CBS Radio from 1944 to 1946 in 30-minute episodes.
The Orson Welles Show (1941–42), also known as The Orson Welles Theater, Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater and the Lady Esther Show, was a live CBS Radio series produced, directed and hosted by Orson Welles. Broadcast Mondays at 10 p.m. ET, it made its debut September 15, 1941. Its last broadcast was February 2, 1942.
Les Misérables is a seven-part radio series broadcast July 23 – September 3, 1937, on the Mutual Network. Orson Welles adapted Victor Hugo's 1862 novel, directed the series, and starred as Jean Valjean. The 22-year-old Welles developed the idea of telling stories with first-person narration on the series, which was his first job as a writer-director for radio.
This is a comprehensive list of all of the commercially released recordings made by Orson Welles. Welles is heard on many recordings that were not intended for commercial release and for which he was not compensated.
While every attempt has been made to provide a complete listing of Welles's commercial recordings in the order of their release, it would be folly to assume that such a list could ever be compiled with certainty.
This is a bibliography of books by or about the director and actor Orson Welles.
"Raising Kane" is a 1971 book-length essay by American film critic Pauline Kael, in which she revived controversy over the authorship of the screenplay for the 1941 film Citizen Kane. Kael celebrated screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, first-credited co-author of the screenplay, and questioned the contributions of Orson Welles, who co-wrote, produced and directed the film, and performed the lead role. The 50,000-word essay was written for The Citizen Kane Book (1971), as an extended introduction to the shooting script by Mankiewicz and Welles. It first appeared in February 1971 in two consecutive issues of The New Yorker magazine. In the ensuing controversy, Welles was defended by colleagues, critics, biographers and scholars, but his reputation was damaged by its charges. The essay and Kael's assertions were later questioned after Welles's contributions to the screenplay were documented.
The sources for Citizen Kane, the 1941 American motion picture that marked the feature film debut of Orson Welles, have been the subject of speculation and controversy since the project's inception. With a story spanning 60 years, the quasi-biographical film examines the life and legacy of Charles Foster Kane, played by Welles, a fictional character based in part upon the American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and Chicago tycoons Samuel Insull and Harold McCormick. A rich incorporation of the experiences and knowledge of its authors, the film earned an Academy Award for Best Writing for Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles.
The authorship of the screenplay for Citizen Kane, the 1941 American motion picture that marked the feature film debut of Orson Welles, has been one of the film's long-standing controversies. With a story spanning 60 years, the quasi-biographical film examines the life and legacy of Charles Foster Kane, played by Welles, a fictional character based in part upon the American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst and Chicago tycoons Samuel Insull and Harold McCormick. A rich incorporation of the experiences and knowledge of its authors, the film earned an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles.
It's All True: Based on an Unfinished Film by Orson Welles is a 1993 documentary film about Orson Welles's ill-fated Pan-American anthology film It's All True, shot in 1941–42 but never completed. Written and directed by Richard Wilson, Bill Krohn and Myron Meisel, the film is narrated by Miguel Ferrer. It was named the year's Best Non-Fiction Film by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and its filmmakers received a special citation from the National Society of Film Critics.