"Citizen Welles Raises Kane." 27 January 1941. 9 April 2008 <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,801256,00.html>.

    This article taken from the January 27, 1941 issue of Time magazine was written shortly after the movie was completed, but a good three months before the theatrical release on May 1st, 1941.  The article, written after the initial press screening of Citizen Kane describes the very initial reaction of William Randolph Hearst’s “Cinecolumnist” Lolly Parsons after she sees a private screening of the film with her two lawyers and chauffer.  RKO’s first screening of the film included invitations to Hollywood’s “journalistic elite” with the notable exception of Hearst’s representatives.  This raising an initial suspicion, compelled Ms. Parsons to insist on a special showing for her review.  Though told by Orson Welles that the movie was not about Mr. Hearst, she noted obvious similarities and appealed to RKO to halt the release of Citizen Kane.  Hearst’s papers made no mention of the film.  The article was written before the official release date was set and claims that RKO has decided to release it in the following month of February.  I was also written before Hearst’s famous $800,000 offer to offset the production costs and halt the release.

    This article is a fascinating account of the first weeks of the memorable Hollywood clash of Hearst vs. RKO regarding the release of Welles’s potentially libel-generating film Citizen Kane.  There are many obvious similarities between Charles Foster Kane and William Randolph Hearst, and Hearst, among others is assumed to be a main inspiration for the movie and the famous character.  Ms. Parsons, Hearst’s film columnist, cites the most obvious comparisons to be the multiple relationships Kane has with different women in his younger years and the “wholesale grabs of Europe’s artistic offscourings.”  Because of temporal limitations, the article only touches the very beginning of the altercations between Hearst, RKO and Welles.  The Hearst newspapers make no mention of the film, it is never reviewed, and eventually he makes an $800,000 offer to keep the film off the market.  The 25-year-old Orson Welles reaches – as many consider – his peak.  From here, he has a rapid falling out of Hollywood and mainstream cinema for many years.