{"id":4450,"date":"2012-03-23T12:32:24","date_gmt":"2012-03-23T16:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=4450"},"modified":"2012-03-23T12:32:24","modified_gmt":"2012-03-23T16:32:24","slug":"dvd-rko-281-1999","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=4450","title":{"rendered":"DVD: RKO 281 (1999)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to: <\/strong>Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>P to R<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Film: Very Good\/ DVD Transfer: Excellent\/ DVD Extras: \u00a0n\/a<\/p>\n

Label: Warner Home Video\/ Region: 1 (NTSC) \/\u00a0Released: April 25, 2000<\/p>\n

Genre: Docu-Drama \/ Film History \/ TV Movie<\/p>\n

Synopsis: Dramatization of the battling egos when media tycoon William Randolph Hearst attempts to stop the release of Orson Welles’ film debut, “Citizen Kane.”<\/p>\n

Special Features: (none)<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Review:<\/p>\n

Inspired by the superb PBS documentary The Battle Over Citizen Kane<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] (1996), executive producers Tony and Ridley Scott fashioned this high-quality docu-drama which effectively traces the making of Citizen Kane<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] from the moment boy wonder Orson Welles snagged a virtual carte blanche production deal to the film\u2019s release in 1941.<\/p>\n

With plenty of rich factual material from which to draw, screenwriter John Logan (who also penned Ridley Scott\u2019s Gladiator<\/strong>) distilled his elements into a compelling drama that doesn\u2019t transform anyone into a saintly or villainous caricature. Welles (Live Schreiber) tries to usurp Kane\u2019s authorship from writing partner \/ story originator Herman J. \u201cMank\u201d Mankiewicz (John Malkovich)\u00a0 because he\u2019s been told far too many times he was a \u201cgenius\u201d; Mank gives into Welles\u2019 pestering and writes the first draft of the script, knowing the details drawn from the personal lives of media tycoon William Randolph Hearst (James Cromwell) and Marion Davies (Melanie Griffiths) will leave them and RKO open to Hearst\u2019s rage and powerful media empire; and studio production chief George Schaefer (Roy Scheider) took a gamble by luring Welles to RKO with a controversial production deal so sweet, it weakened his own power.<\/p>\n

Woven into the drama are the effects of vile gossip columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, and the cinematographer Gregg Toland, who sought out Welles for the chance to film Kane and learn new tricks from a young, brash, arrogant new filmmaker \u2013 even if Welles had never directed a studio picture before.<\/p>\n

This HBO TV movie has very high production values, including ornate British locations and sleek set designs that perfectly evoke 1941 Hollywood, including its style, and wealth, and excess. John Altman\u2019s orchestral underscore and jazzy source songs match the script\u2019s fast pacing and dry tone, and director Benjamin Ross exploits the film within a film and rampant cineaste references, but never loses sight of the characters that remain fairly humane by the end. It\u2019s also appropriate that the TV movie ends as Kane <\/strong>finally makes its theatrical debut, leaving viewers to check out the original documentary for further details.<\/p>\n

Only qualms: while we know or are aware of the fates dolled out to Welles, Schaefer, and Hearst, Mankiewicz\u2019s own career isn\u2019t given any postscript, and it\u2019s worth noting that Kane<\/strong>, and the Oscar it won for Best Original Screenplay, rekindled the veteran screenwriter\u2019s career, making him bankable again. Mankiewicz soon after scripted a series of classics, including The Pride of the Yankees<\/strong> (1942), Christmas Holiday <\/strong>(1944), Enchanted Cottage <\/strong>(1945), and A Woman\u2019s Secret<\/strong> (1949).<\/p>\n

This title is available separately, and as part of Warner Home Video\u2019s Citizen Kane 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector\u2019s Edition on DVD and Blu-ray.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2012 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

External References<\/em>:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amazon Links & KQEK.com’s Media Store:<\/em><\/p>\n

Amazon.ca<\/a> —– Amazon.com<\/a> —– Amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0P to R<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to: Home \/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews \/ P to R . Film: Very Good\/ DVD Transfer: Excellent\/ DVD Extras: \u00a0n\/a Label: Warner Home Video\/ Region: 1 (NTSC) \/\u00a0Released: April 25, 2000 Genre: Docu-Drama \/ Film History \/ TV Movie Synopsis: Dramatization of the battling egos when media tycoon William Randolph Hearst attempts to stop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[1145,435,245],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-19M","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4450"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4450"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4511,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4450\/revisions\/4511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}