RKO 281
	
	by
	John Logan
	
	Ridley Scott
	Scott-Free Productions
	
	May 1,1997
	
	Setting
	Primarily Hollywood and San Simeon, 1940-1941
	
	Featured Characters
	
	ORSON WELLES: Boy Genius
	Age at opening of the story, January 1940: 24.
	
	WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST: Press Baron
	Age at opening of the story, January 1940: 76
	
	MARION DAVIES: Hearst's Mistress
	Age at opening of the story, January 1940: 43
	
	HERMAN MANKIEWICZ ("MANK") : Writer
	Age at opening of the story, January 1940: 43
	
	GEORGE SCHAEFER: RKO Studio Head, 50's
	LOUELLA PARSONS: Hearst Gossip Columnist, 60's
	LOUIS B. MAYER: Head of MGM, 50's.
	HEDDA HOPPER: Louella's Rival, 50's.
	
	
	
	Also
	
	Gregg Toland: KANE Director of Photography
	Joe Willicombe: Hearst Assistant
	Carole Lombard: Movie star
	David 0. Selznick: Independent Producer
	Rita Hayworth: Movie star
	Jack Warner: Head of Warner Brothers
	Walt Disney: Head of Disney
	Sam Goldwyn: Independent Producer
	Harry Cohn: Head of Columbia
	Darryl Zanuck: Head of 20th Century Fox
	John Houseman: Theatrical/Radio Producer
	Paul Stewart: KANE Actor
	Joseph Cotton: KANE Actor
	Dorothy Commingore: KANE Actress
	Bernard Hermann: KANE Composer
	Clark Gable: Movie star
	J. Edgar Hoover: FBI Director
	
	
	
	SONGS USED IN RKO 281
	
	"I'LL BE SEEING YOU"
	
	"WHERE OR WHEN"
	
	"SING, SING, SING"
	
	"DISGUSTINGLY RICH"
	Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
	Copyright 1954 by Chappell and Co., Inc.
	[Lyrics adapted by the author.]
	
	"I CAN'T GET STARTED"
	Music by Ira Gershwin, Lyrics by Vernon Duke
	Copyright 1935 by Chappell and Co., Inc.
	
	
	
	Q: "During the shooting of CITIZEN KANE, did you have the sensation of 
	making such an important film?"
	
	A: "I never doubted it for a single instant." 
	Interview with Orson Welles. 1966.
	
	Pleasure is worth what you can afford to pay for it
	William Randolph Hearst. 1924
	
	
	
	
	
	RKO 281 by John Logan 
	
	INT_LARGE, DARK ROOM_NIGHT
	
	In the ebony shadows of a large room we can make out corners and edges, 
	moldings and cornices; the phantoms of decaying Victorian wealth 
	floating like disembodied ghosts in the darkness.
	
	It is May 6, 1924 The harsh flare of a match being struck
	
	A shadowy male figure lights a series of nine candles on a birthday 
	cake. Beyond the cake we can see a bed.
	
	On the bed lies a woman in her early forties. She is ashen and sickly. 
	Dying.
	
	The shadowy male figure finishes lighting the candles, blows out the 
	match and disappears as the woman peers into the darkness.
	
	                         WOMAN 
	          Come into the light.. Come into the light
	
	A nine-year-old boy steps into the light.
	
	She pulls him close and whispers:
	                         WOMAN 
	
	Never stand in the shadows --
	
	                         BOY 
	          Mother...
	
	                         WOMAN 
	          You are made for the light, Orson Now you must blow 
	          out your candles. But you must always remember, the 
	          cake itself is nothing. The flame, the lights, that 
	          is where your future lies. You must have a dream. A 
	          great dream worthy of you.
	
	The boy immediately spins to the cake and blows out the candles. A 
	moment of darkness. He turns back to the bed. The woman and the bed are 
	gone, faded into darkness.
	
	The solemn young lad stares and stares into the darkness
	
	And then, magically, the faint glimmer of twinkling stars fill his huge 
	dark eyes.
	
	NEWSREEL The flickering images of an old newsreel, circa 1940
	
	Under the MGM logo we see the title: BOY WONDER WOWS HOLLYWOOD!
	
	The first image after the title is the imposing figure of ORSON WELLES, 

	climbing down from an airplane and surveying the world at his feet.
	
	Welles is 24 years old and somewhat handsome. Welles seems rather 
	uncomfortable in his own body, as if it could not possibly contain his 
	vast passions and appetites.
	
	Orson Welles is man who tears his way through life with incendiary 
	energy. He is at once inspiring and ferocious; visionary and coldly 
	ambitious. He is part artist, part fraud and all showman.
	
	A sonorous voice accompanies the newsreel. The voice is always grand, 
	occasionally sardonic.
	
	                         NEWSREEL VOICE 
	          He came to the town of magic and dreams a flashing 
	          star blazing through the firmament of illusion. And 
	          he promised to devour the world in a single gulp. He 
	          was 24 years old and his name was George Orson 
	          Welles. Sound the trumpets! Unfurl the banners, 
	          Hollywood! The Boy Wonder has arrived!
	
	Images of Welles as a baby and his early life fill the screen: Welles 
	in a crib; as a pampered schoolboy; at dance class; drama club; dressed 
	up for a magic show. As we hear:
	
	                         NEWSREEL VOICE 
	          He made his debut on the world stage in Kenosha, 
	          Wisconsin, on the 6th of May, 1915. And on the 7th 
	          of May he spoke his first words, and unlike other 
	          children who say commonplace things like "momma" and 
	          "poppa", he proclaimed "I am a genius!"
	
	At three the genius was reciting Shakespeare and at eight he had taken 
	up cigars and highballs and was learning magic from the  knee of the 
	great Houdini.
	
	Images of Welles' early theatrical career: the young man playing 
	impossibly old parts; vaudeville magic shows; various regional 
	theaters; endless tawdry rehearsal rooms
	
	Then images of Welles and JOHN HOUSEMAN in New York: the great, 
	bustling city; Welles at work with John Houseman on a script; Welles 
	directing a play. As we hear:
	
	                         NEWSREEL VOICE 
	          So how could the magic of the stage not call to 
	          this adventurous lad? Unstoppable and resolute, the 
	          Boy Wonder journeyed into the world of the legit 
	          theater. After a peripatetic beginning he found 
	          himself at last in New York where he joined forces 
	          with theatrical producer John Houseman under the 
	          august auspices of the WPA Federal Theater.
	
	A rehearsal room interview with John Houseman, who is in his 30's, 
	thin-lipped and prim:
	
	                         HOUSEMAN 
	          Orson barreled in and took over. Orson's a real 
	          barreler.
	
	Images of Welles directing his famous "Fascist JULIUS CAESAR" and 
	"Voodoo MACBETH" productions: auditions; rehearsals; perfecting a 
	sword-fight; rejecting classical costume sketches for JULIUS CAESAR; 
	supervising set construction; performing Brutus in the Albert Speer-
	like Nuremberg rally lighting of JULIUS CAESAR. As we hear:
	
	                         NEWSREEL VOICE 
	          Like Hannibal over the Alps, the Boy Genius invaded 
	          the Great White Way. He stunned the sedate elite of 
	          New York theatre with production after production. 
	          From MACBETH with an entirely colored cast to a 
	          Mussolini-inspired JULIUS CAESAR!
	
	More images of New York, Welles, Houseman and radio: Welles directing a 
	radio play with sweeping energy; supervising the elaborate sound 
	effects; editing the script; at odds with Houseman. As we hear:
	
	                         NEWSREEL VOICE 
	          Though he wowed the critics with his spectaculars 
	          the ticket sales left something to be desired. So, 
	          after founding the Mercury Players with Houseman, 
	          young Mr. Welles quickly set his sights on the 
	          airwaves. He quickly became the sonorous -' voice of 
	          "The Shadow." ''
	
	Newsreel footage of Welles at a standing radio microphone;
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The 
	          Shadow knows. . .
	
	Welles laughs his sinister Shadow laugh and we go to more images of 
	radio and the dynamic Welles performing and directing as we hear:
	
	                         NEWSREEL VOICE 
	          With Lament Cranston in one pocket and his own 
	          radio show. The Mercury Theater of the Air, our Boy 
	          Wonder filled the night with his resounding tones. 
	          And on October 30th of 1938, he became what he felt 
	          destined to be: a household name.
	
	What started out as a roguish Halloween prank became the most famous 
	radio show in the history of the galaxy!
	
	Images of the WAR OF THE WORLDS broadcast and panic: listeners huddling 
	next to their radios; telephone switchboards lighting up; New Jersey 
	State Motorcycle Troopers zooming down rural roads; cars clogging the 
	highways. As we hear:
	
	                         NEWSREEL VOICE 
	          THE WAR OF THE WORLDS sent this nation spinning 
	          into a frenzy. Nine million listeners clasped their 
	          loved ones close and looked to the skies with 
	          horror. Unlucky listeners near the epicenter of the 
	          "invasion" -- rural New Jersey -- ran screaming into 
	          the night, sure a monstrous alien and a fiery death 
	          awaited them around every corner! The mischievous 
	          Boy Wonder had fooled us all!
	
	Newsreel footage of a packed press conference with Welles the day 
	following the broadcast:
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (contritely)
	           Of course ... of course ... if I had known the 
	          panic the broadcast was causing -- well I would have 
	          stopped! I never meant for any of this to happen and 
	          I feel just horrible!
	
	Quick newsreel clips of Welles leaving the press conference with 
	Houseman. We see them slip into a taxi. Inside the taxi we can just 
	glimpse Welles exploding with laughter.
	
	                         NEWSREEL VOICE 
	          How long, oh how long could it possibly be before 
	          the sunny land of dreams tried to harness the 
	          combustible power of this showman, this impresario, 
	          this best of all possible Boy Wonders?!
	
	Images of Welles posing and shaking hands with GEORGE                          
SCHAEFER
	
	Schaefer is an intense, compact man in his early 50's. His nickname in 
	Hollywood is "The Tiger" -- both for his admired tenacity and his 
	feared temper. He is a moral and ethical man; John Adams in a Brooks 
	Brothers suit.
	
	As we hear
	
	                         NEWSREEL VOICE 
	          The winner in the Welles derby was George Schaefer, 
	          the head of RKO Pictures. With a contract 
	          unimaginable before The Days Of Orson, Mr. Schaefer 
	          captured the whirlwind snared the beast, roped the 
	          tyrant!
	
	Images of Welles and Schaefer: Welles signing his contract; smiling to 
	Schaefer; Schaefer making a speech; Welles joking with reporters. As we 
	hear:
	
	                         NEWSREEL VOICE 
	          Eyebrows raised and jaws dropped all over 
	          Hollywoodland when the terms of the deal that lured 
	          The Great Orson came forth: the Boy Wonder could 
	          produce, write, direct and star in his own projects 
	          with budgets up to $500,000 a picture! He would have 
	          total control over the shooting of the picture and 
	          the finished product. The studio, well, they just 
	          paid the bills. Meanwhile, the insiders of filmland 
	          were skeptical.
	
	An interview with a Hollywood Insider, who looks like a bookie:
	
	                         HOLLYWOOD INSIDER 
	          John Ford doesn't have a deal like that. Cecil B. 
	          DeMille doesn't have a deal like that. No one has a 
	          deal like that! If ya ask me, George Schaefer is 
	          just plain nuts
	
	Images of Welles arriving in Hollywood and touring the town: Welles 
	climbing down from a plane; posing with Schaefer before of the RKO 
	gates; touring the studio; leaning over an editing machine; laughing 
	with female extras in the commissary; posing in front of his Brentwood 
	home. As we hear:
	
	                         NEWSREEL VOICE 
	          So Cometh Orson! He toured the RKO studio and met 
	          with the biggest of the big! He charmed his way 
	          through the town from the Brown Derby to the 
	          Copacabana, from the Pacific Palisades to the 
	          Hollywood Hills!
	
	More images of Welles in Hollywood: Welles touring the town; visiting 
	all the nightclubs and dancing with beautiful women; he is seen 
	everywhere about the town. As we hear:
	
	                         NEWSREEL VOICE 
	          Yes, the Boy Wonder had arrived! He even charmed 
	          those rival maidens of Hollywood gossip, those well-
	          coiffured chroniclers of the dream factory: Hedda 
	          Hopper and Louella Parsons.
	
	Shots of Welles with LOUELLA PARSONS and HEDDA HOPPER
	
	Louella is a much-feared gossip columnist. She is a gorgon in her 60's; 
	Margaret Dumont possessed by the devil and tanked up on gin. Her 
	capricious cruelty is only matched by her fervent loyalty to all things 
	Hearstian.
	
	Hedda is a gossip columnist in her 50's. She is given to elaborate hats 
	and villainous intrigue. Louella's younger, smarter rival, Hedda 
	probably spends her spare time eating children.
	
	Then a snippet of an interview with Louella:
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          Orson is the sweetest boy. We're both from the 
	          midwest, you know. He's just a local fella making 
	          good, ya follow?
	
	More shots of Welles just after his arrival in Hollywood, blissfully 
	touring the RKO facilities as:
	
	                         NEWSREEL VOICE 
	          So today, almost a year after his arrival in 
	          Hollywood, we leave the Boy Wonder still hard at 
	          work developing his much-anticipated first feature, 
	          preparing to dazzle us all again. We're waiting, 
	          Orson!
	
	Welles after his RKO tour, smiling mischievously, stands before a 
	microphone:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I'll tell you what, this is the best electric train 
	          set a boy ever had!
	
	"The End" and newsreel credits
	
	The newsreel sputters to a stop in a screening room. A shaft of light 
	shines on a large MGM logo on one wall. Another shaft of light 
	illuminates the sitting figure of LOUIS B. MAYER.
	
	Mayer is a short, crafty, bespectacled man in his 50's. His cloying, 
	avuncular exterior only fleetingly disguises the film titan's 
	outrageous barbarism.
	
	Another shadowy figure, a Mayer FLUNKIE, can be just glimpsed sitting 
	elsewhere in the screening room.
	
	Mayer glowers at the darkened screen for a moment.
	
	A beat.
	
	                         MAYER 
	          Who does that cocksucker think he is?
	
	                         FLUNKIE 
	          They're laying bets over on the RKO 
	          lot that this great deal will end up 
	          with him never doing a picture. Back 
	          to New York he goes.
	
	                         MAYER 
	          Serves him right. I mean can you stomach the 
	          arrogance?
	
	                         FLUNKIE 
	          Inside skinny says the glory boy's finished, 
	          can't come up with a movie. Wants to do a biography now.
	
	                         MAYER 
	          After RKO boots him maybe we'll pick him up cheap. 
	          Have him do that WAR OF THE WORLDS crap as a 
	          feature.
	
	Meantime, shelve the newsreel. No one cares
	
	INT_SAN SIMEON. WELLES' SUITE_EVENING
	
	Orson Welles, elegant and impressive, is flourishing a cigarette and a 
	coin in his magnificently expressive hands He is perfecting a magic 
	trick.
	
	Welles is lounging on the bed of an enormous guest suite at San Simeon. 
	He is wearing a tuxedo.
	
	In the bathroom beyond him we can see the writer HERMAN MANKIEWICZ 
	("MANK". )
	
	Mank is a wonderful wreck of a human being. 43 years old, but looking 
	considerably older, he is short and squat and bitter. A compulsive 
	gambler and drinker, Mank still glimmers with wry humor that is equally 
	wicked and corrosive. He is incomplete without the stub of a cigar 
	clenched in his teeth.
	
	Mank, also dressed in a tuxedo, is looking at himself in the bathroom 
	mirror as he struggles with his bow tie. He occasionally glances in the 
	mirror to Welles.
	
	Title: JANUARY 3, 1940
	
	                         MANK 
	          I don't know what you expected with Joseph- 
	          fucking-Conrad for Chrissake. I mean this is 
	          Hollywood, pal.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          All right! Enough! I've heard this from Schaefer 
	          and RKO. I've heard it from everyone--
	
	                         MANK 
	          But you keep coming up with the same elitist crap -
	          - HEART OF DARKNESS with a million dollar budget?! -
	          - no one wants to see that.
	
	                         WELLES
	          Nonsense
	
	Welles dramatically taps the cigarette on the coin, practicing his 
	trick as:
	
	                         MANK 
	          What are movies about, Orson?
	
	                         WELLES
	          Forget it-
	
	                         MANK 
	          What are movies about?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Telling stories.
	
	                         MANK
	          Nope.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Showing life
	
	                         MANK 
	          Who the hell wants to see life?! People are sick to 
	          death of life! They want make-believe, pal. Fantasy. 
	          They want Tarzan and Jane, not Tristan and Isolde.
	
	Welles quickly makes the cigarette seem to completely pass through the 
	coin. An astounding bit of slight of hand.
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (happily)
	           Magic
	
	                         MANK 
	          Butts on seats. That's what movies are about. You 
	          got one job in Hollywood -- everyone has the same 
	          job, in fact -- putting the butts on the seats. You 
	          gotta sell 'em popcorn and Pepsi- cola. It's all 
	          about popcorn and Pepsi-cola.
	
	                         WELLES
	          Not for me.
	
	                         MANK 
	          Then you better get ready to be the youngest never-
	          was in Hollywood history.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          That's better than being the oldest has-been in 
	          Hollywood history.
	
	                         MANK 
	          You're a laugh-riot, kid.
	
	Welles laughs and goes to Mank in the bathroom.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Here, turn around.
	
	Welles ties Mank's bow tie for him as:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          So, we've got to come up with our movie. Our 
	          biography.
	
	                         MANK
	          Right-
	
	                         WELLES 
	          We find the man and then we dissect him-
	
	                         MANK
	          Like a bug.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          But with compassion and insight--
	
	                         MANK 
	             (glancing at his watch)
	           Christ, we gotta go! The old man doesn't cotton to 
	          lateness.
	
	Mank takes a quick swig from a flask of vodka, shoves it into his coat 
	and scurries into the other room as Welles checks himself in the 
	mirror.
	
	A beat. Welles smiles, confident and resplendent
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (into the mirror)
	           How do you do, Mr. Hearst? My name is Orson 
	          Welles.
	
	INT_SAN SIMEON. HALLWAY_FOLLOWING
	

	Welles and Mank walk through an impressive upstairs hallway of San 
	Simeon. Quick glimpses of the astounding grandeur everywhere around 
	them as:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          How about Howard Hughes? We could do Hughes
	
	                         MANK 
	          I'm not fucking with Hughes. That shit-kicker would 
	          kill us dead, baby. Just like Jean Harlow
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Howard Hughes killed Jean Harlow?
	
	                         MANK 
	          Sure. Dropped her out of his Lockheed over Utah
	
	They disappear down a long stairway 
	
	INT_SAN SIMEON. DINING HALL_EVENING 
	
	An explosion of color and an immediate swirl of sound

	
	We are in the Grand Refectory -- the mammoth dining room -- at San 
	Simeon. Five long tables are placed end to end. There are about fifty 
	sumptuously dressed guests.
	
	WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST and MARION DAVIES preside, side by side, 
at the 
	center table.
	
	Hearst is 76 years old. He is a fully commanding figure, towering in 
	both height (six foot two) and personality. He is shaped rather like a 
	pear and moves with a delicacy surprising for such a famously merciless 
	man. Although the word ruthless does not begin to do justice to the 
	press baron's animus, Hearst is endlessly polite and almost painfully 
	soft-spoken.
	
	Marion is 43 years old, a shimmering and lively presence. In a word 
	that might have been coined for her, she has moxie. While the ravages 
	of alcoholism have left their subtle marks on the edges and attitudes 
	of her face, she can still charm and captivate with almost effortless 
	grace.
	
	Around Hearst's feet sit a collection of his beloved dachshunds.
	
	On the other side of the main table, and down a bit, sit Welles and 
	Mank.
	
	We sweep around the table, hearing bits of overlapping dialogue and 
	finally settle on Marion and Hearst.
	
	Marion is charming CAROLE LOMBARD and CLARK GABLE, who sit beside 
her. 
	She tenderly rests one hand on Hearst's arm as she speaks. Marion 
	speaks with an occasionally pronounced stutter.
	
	                         MARION 
	          And we would hear them scuttling around at night 
	          with their little red eyes and little yellow t-t-
	          teeth and I'm just imagining plague lice jumpin' all 
	          over the damn place So we set t-t-traps everywhere. 
	          And every morning we would find the t-t-traps sprung 
	          but no mice!
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD
	          Houdini mice.
	
	Laughter
	
	                         MARION 
	          Just wait. So one night I notice Pops getting outta 
	          bed and sneaking away. And he's got this little p-p-
	          paper bag with him, right? Middle of the night. So I 
	          figure the old man's really up to no good this time 
	          and I follow him. Well I'll be g-g-goddamned if he's 
	          not springing all the traps and leaving cheese for 
	          the rats!
	
	                         MARION 
	          You and that freak Disney, in love with the damn 
	          rats!
	
	Laughter, even from Hearst
	
	                         HEARST 
	          They really are sweet little things
	
	Meanwhile, across the table Welles is rapaciously devouring his dinner 
	as:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Sigmund Freud?
	
	                         MANK 
	          Kid, you just got your ass kicked on Joseph Conrad 
	          and now you're gonna go to Schaefer and tell him you 
	          wanna do the id and the superego? Stop being so 
	          goddamn smart.
	
	Mank surreptitiously pours a huge shot of vodka from his flask into his 
	glass as:
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (suddenly inspired)
	           Manolete?!
	
	                         MANK 
	          Who the hell's Manolete?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          The great Spanish bullfighter
	
	                         MANK 
	          I don't wanna write about no spic.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          No, it's perfect! When in doubt, put on a cape! 
	          False noses and faux beards and flowing capes have 
	          been the life-blood of the actor's craft since the 
	          days of lrving and Booth. (He flourishes his napkin 
	          like a bullfighter's cape.) Imagine me in a 
	          glittering suit of lights on the dusky Andalusian 
	          plains--
	
	                         MARION 
	          Why Mr. Welles is attempting semaphore
	
	Welles smiles across the table.
	
	Laughter.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Bullfighting, Miss Davies!
	
	                         MARION 
	          And is dear Mank your b-b-bull?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          My factotum, ally and comrade-in-arms
	
	                         MANK 
	          Writer, flunkie, pimp--
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD
	             (wry)
	           You fight many bulls there in New York, Orson?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Ever met Walter Winchell?
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (expansively, warming into a story)
	           No, when I was but a tender lad--
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	          Last week would this be?
	
	Laughter. As Welles speaks the whole table gradually stops eating and 
	listens to his tale:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          My father and I made a tour of the grand boulevards 
	          of antique Europe. And when we were in Iberia I had 
	          the chance to face the bulls. At the knee of the 
	          great Manolete I took up the cape and sword - 
	             (he uses his napkin and knife to 
	             demonstrate)
	           -- across from me stood a mammoth bull reputed to 
	          have gored a full seven men to a grisly demise! So -
	          - with Manolete shouting encouragement I flourished 
	          . . . I flourished again . . . and the bull charged! 
	          Across the golden dust it came, thundering like the 
	          great minotaur of legend, closer, ever closer, its 
	          calamitous hooves pounding into the dirt, shaking 
	          the earth as I held the crimson eye of the bull with 
	          my own, defying it -- it was almost upon me and I 
	          flourished one last time! -- the monster swept past! 
	          - 
	             (he spins his napkin in the air and his 
	             knife is now gone, a magic trick)
	           -- and my sword was gone -- buried in the bloody 
	          eye of the beast!
	
	Applause and laughter from around the table. Then:
	
	                         HEARST 
	             (quietly)
	           You are evidently a man who knows a great deal 
	          about bull.
	
	Some nervous titters. A beat as Welles' smile fades and he stares at 
	Hearst.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Of all man's malignity -- of all his sadism -- none 
	          is more depraved than cruelty to animals.
	
	Silence
	
	Mank gives Welles a desperate warning look to keep quiet Welles cannot 
	resist speaking:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          In Spain the cruelty would be in denying the beast 
	          a fighting end.
	
	A beat as Hearst rivets Welles with a cold, bland stare Deafening 
	silence around the table.
	
	Then:
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Who are you, sir?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          My name is Orson Welles
	
	                         HEARST 
	          The actor
	
	                         WELLES 
	          And director.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          I see. And you are in California for what reason?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          To make pictures.

	
	                         HEARST 
	          And what pictures have you made?
	
	A beat.
	
	                         WELLES
	          None.
	
	A beat. Hearst smiles
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Well, I wish you luck. It is a treacherous 
	          business.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          So I've been told.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          In Hollywood the fiercest bulls are the most 
	          brutally killed.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I'll remember that.
	
	A tense beat. Marion quickly diffuses the situation;
	
	                         MARION 
	          Enough Hollywood talk! Can't anyone talk about 
	          anything else?
	
	                         MANX 
	          Heard some juicy gossip from Metro.
	
	                         MARION
	             (eagerly)
	          Ooh, dish.
	
	Laughter. Even from Hearst. Then the dinner chatter continues.
	
	Welles cannot keep his eyes off Hearst, the press baron draws Welles in 
	like a siren.
	
	Marion gives Hearst a little kiss and grabs Carole Lombard and they 
	leave the table. Hearst leans into Clark Gable to continue talking.
	
	Welles sits back and reaches for a cigar. Mank takes his arm and 
	indicates he should stop, nodding his head in Hearst's direction.
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (quietly)
	           The man doesn't allow drinking or cigars? This is 
	          monstrous.
	
	                         MANK 
	          The old man has his own way of doing things
	
	                         WELLES 
	          He's nothing but a hypocrite. He preaches morality 
	          every day in his sordid little papers for everyone 
	          else in the world but he lives openly with his 
	          mistress.
	
	Mank sneaks another shot from his flask
	
	                         MANK 
	          Buddy, when you own the largest publishing empire 
	          in the universe you can do whatever the hell you 
	          want. Think about it, pal. Every day one out of five 
	          Americans picks up a Hearst publication. 30 
	          newspapers, a dozen magazines, a bunch of radio 
	          stations and the grand dragon of them all. Little 
	          Miss Louella Parsons. Tends to give you some of that 
	          ol' noblesse oblige.
	
	Welles studies Hearst across the table.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Look at those hands. Those are the hands of an 
	          artist. A modern Caravaggio.
	
	                         MANK 
	          No, baby, those are the hands of a killer
	
	Hearst leans down and feeds his favorite pet dachshund, Helen, table 
	scraps. He talks to her gently.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          There you are, honey. Aren't you a wonderful girl?
	
	INT_SAN SIMEON. LADIES LOUNGE_FOLLOWING
	
	Marion and Carole Lombard escape into an ornate ladies bathroom.
	
	Marion immediately goes to a cabinet and retrieves a bottle of Scotch 
	hidden under some towels. She takes a swig and then hands the bottle to 
	Carole Lombard. She drinks.
	
	Marion lights a cigarette.
	
	                         MARION 
	          God, these parties are the worst
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	          You need to get outta here, Rapunzel
	
	                         MARION 
	          That's why he has the parties, he says it's like 
	          bringing the world to me.
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	          Why don't you come down to LA? Stay with us for a 
	          while.
	
	                         MARION 
	          With about twenty of his spies on my tail. No 
	          thanks.
	
	Marion hands the cigarette to Carole Lombard A beat.
	
	A beat.
	
	                         MARION 
	             (somewhat ruefully)
	           It's not so bad here. After all, what girl doesn't 
	          want to live in a castle?
	
	                         MARION 
	          Mr. Welles certainly is a caution
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	             (smiles)
	           Yeah, Orson's a real piece of work. But deep down, 
	          he's a good kid. Real deep down.
	
	                         MARION 
	          And attractive in a hammy sort of way.
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	          Mm.
	
	A beat. Carole Lombard hands the cigarette back to Marion
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	          Listen, you come down and stay with us for a few 
	          days. Just tell the old man that--
	
	                         MARION
	          I can't
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	          Sure you can, just--
	
	                         MARION 
	          He needs me here.
	
	A beat. Carole Lombard does not respond. 
	
	INT_SAN SIMEON. BALLROOM_FOLLOWING
	
	In the cavernous ballroom, a dance band is playing "I'LL BE SEEING 
	YOU."
	
	The guests mingle and dance
	
	Welles and Mank wander as Welles takes in the impressive surroundings.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome 
	          decree. . . "How big is it, all told? The estate?
	
	                         MANK 
	          The whole joint is half the size of Rhode Island.
	
	                         WELLES
	          Jesus
	
	                         MANK 
	          Yeah, it's the place God would have built, if he'd 
	          had the money.
	
	Carole Lombard and Marion return, rather giggly
	
	                         MARION 
	          Mankie, Mankie d-d-dance with me
	
	                         MANK 
	          You've been naughty, haven't you, honey?
	
	                         MARION 
	          Shit, can you smell it? You got any sen-sen?
	
	                         MANK
	          Sorry.
	
	                         MARION 
	          Mr. Welles, you got any--? Oh fuck it.
	
	She goes off in search of Hearst.
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	          Meanwhile, Orson, I thought your bullfighting story 
	          was nifty. Let's cut a rug.
	
	She pulls Welles to the dance floor Mank wanders away and takes another 
	swig from his flask.
	
	As Welles and Carole Lombard dance, Welles keeps an eye on Hearst and 
	Marion who are dancing nearby.
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	          So you ever gonna do a picture?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Not you too
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD
	             (smiles)
	           It's gonna be fine, Orson. You're gonna do great.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I wonder sometimes.
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	          You're just scared.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Am I? 
	
	                         CAROLS LOMBARD
	          Sure
	
	                         WELLES 
	          And what am I scared of?
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	          Of being found out. Of not being a genius
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (smiles)
	           Oh, but haven't you heard? I'm the Boy Wonder. 
	          I've been a genius since the moment I was born.
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	          We've known each other too long, Orson. Sling the 
	          bullshit elsewhere.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Carole, you wound me! As if I could hope to pacify 
	          you with evasions of--
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	          Don't insult me with your cute press quotes Save it 
	          for Louella.
	
	She stops and looks at him firmly
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	          You make your mark, Orson.
	
	Nearby Marion pulls away from Hearst sharply, drawing Welles' 
	attention. He overhears:
	
	                         MARION 
	          Goddamn it. I gotta have some kinda life!
	
	                         HEARST 
	          There's no call for that language-
	
	                         MARION 
	          There certainly is I There certainly is! Aw, to 
	          hell with you!
	
	She storms off. Welles and Carole Lombard watch her go
	
	                         WELLES 
	          That poor woman.
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	             (sadly)
	           She knew what she was signing on for After all, 
	          she took the money.
	
	Welles watches as Hearst stands alone on the dance floor We hear the 
	sound of a lion roaring in the distance 
	
	INT_SAN SIMEON. WELLES' SUITE_NIGHT 
	
	Welles, again dressed in a tuxedo, lies on his bed
	
	Through the open balcony doors he can hear the eerie sound of lions 
	roaring and elephants trumpeting in the night.
	
	He stand and wanders to the balcony. Below him he can see bits and 
	pieces of Hearst's private zoo in the moonlight: a lion pacing 
	relentlessly back and forth; an alligator slipping into the water; a 
	monkey slamming into the bars of its cage.
	
	The disquieting sounds of the menagerie float through the midnight air.
	
	Welles leaves his suite 
	
	INT_SAN SIMEON. HALLWAYS_FOLLOWING
	
	Welles roams the seemingly endless hallways of San Simeon. In the half-
	light they begin to resemble his own cinematic dream-palace, Xanadu.
	
	He hears the ghostly echo of a song, "WHERE OR WHEN".
	
	He curiously follows the sound, taking in the fabulous castle 
	everywhere around him.
	
	He passes by the door to the Assembly Room. Inside, shafts of light 
	illuminate portions of huge, uncompleted jigsaw puzzles.
	
	INT_SAN SIMEON. BALLROOM_FOLLOWING 
	
	"WHERE OR WHEN" is now clear.
	
	Welles stands in the shadows of a balcony overlooking the great 
	ballroom.
	
	Below him a phonograph record spins lazily on a turntable standing of 
	the floor of the deserted ballroom.
	
	And Hearst and Marion are enjoying a quiet dance together, her head 
	nestled on his shoulder.
	
	Welles stares and stares at them And slowly smiles. We linger on Hearst 
	and Marion as they dance 
	
	EXT_WELLES' HOUSE. POOL_DAY
	
	Welles, wrapped in a bathrobe, is pacing quickly around the perimeter 
	of his backyard pool. He is puffing on a cigar and grunting to himself 
	as he scribbles down notes.
	
	Mank, wearing sunglasses and a battered fedora and looking decidedly 
	hung-over, comes from the house to the pool.
	
	Welles roars up to him:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Mank! You scoundrel! What took you so long?!
	
	                         MANK 
	             (pained)
	           Orson, please ... it's too bright
	
	Welles takes Mank's fedora and flings it away.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Here you are, up with the birds for once, you 
	          vampire!
	
	                         MANK 
	             (settling into a deck chair)
	           Okay, boy wonder, what?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Listen ... I've got it! It came to me like a thief 
	          in the night! Pure inspiration! Total magnificence!
	
	Mank takes a glass from a tray of orange juice and pours vodka from a 
	flask into his juice as:
	
	                         MANK 
	          Oh for Christ's sake-
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I know who we're going to get I The great American 
	          biography! A journey into the soul of the beast.
	
	                         MANK 
	          This better be good
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Image a man that has shaped his time. A titanic 
	          figure of limitless influence. Think about empire. A 
	          man with an empire at his feet. A man, like a baron, 
	          living in a palace, a glorious palace on a hill, and 
	          controlling the permutations of everyone beneath 
	          him. Feudal.
	
	                         MANK 
	             (realizing)
	           Oh Christ...
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Image the possibilities as this man controls the 
	          public perception of the nation through his--
	
	                         MANK 
	          Oh Christ
	
	A beat as Welles stands in triumph before Mank.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Yes.
	
	                         MANK 
	             (quietly)
	           Please don't say this.
	
	                         WELLES
	          Mank-
	
	                         MANK 
	          Don't whisper it. Don't even think it
	
	                         WELLES 
	          How long have we spent casting our minds about the 
	          world when the answer to our prayers was right here 
	          under our noses -- every single day in the 
	          newspapers and on the radio -- waiting for us in 
	          that ridiculous castle! Waiting for--!
	
	                         MANK 
	          Orson. Stop. Just stop
	
	Welles quickly sits in a deck chair next to Mank as:
	
	Beat
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Now remember he's a public figure who sought out 
	          that publicity so legally he can't stop us from--
	
	                         MANK 
	             (laughs coldly) Listen to you. You 
	             child! Men like him don't bother with 
	             things like legality. They don't have to. 
	             You know why, boy-o?   Power.   Power 
	             like you couldn't even begin to imagine.
	
	                         MANK 
	          Howard Hughes, he would just kill us. Hearst he 
	          would kill us and fuck everything we ever loved.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          We're doing Hearst.
	
	A beat. Mank slowly removes his sunglasses and leans forward, dead 
	serious.
	
	A beat.
	
	                         MANK 
	          You may think you know what you're talking about, 
	          kid, but believe me, you don't. You're talking about 
	          going into a battle you can never win on a 
	          battlefield so far above things like movies and 
	          Hollywood that Hearst won't even have to glance down 
	          when he crushes you. When he flicks you away with 
	          one finger. I'm talking about money and influence 
	          and evil beyond your capacity to imagine Hell.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          So speaks the court jester.
	
	                         MANK
	          Fuck you
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I expected more from you.
	
	                         MANK 
	          Sorry to disappoint.
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (with building venom)
	          How does it feel, Mank? Going up to the palace and 
	          making all the lords and ladies laugh as you tell 
	          your little stories and beg for crumbs at the table? 
	          How does it feel being the ugly little monkey they 
	          keep to amuse themselves--?!
	
	Mank leaps to his feet
	
	                         MANK 
	          It feels just fine, you pompous fuck-
	
	Welles blocks Mank's way. Mank retreats. Welles pursues him around the 
	pool as:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I remember a man who wrote I He was a brilliant 
	          writer who dazzled me time and time again with his 
	          wit and insight--
	
	                         MANK 
	          Don't do this
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Where did he go? He hasn't had a screen credit in 
	          four years--
	
	                         MANK 
	          Don't do this
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (savagely)
	          --Because he has been so furiously busy wasting 
	          himself. Amusing his keepers. Because he is a 
	          sycophant! Because he has been thrown out of every 
	          studio in Hollywood and no one will hire him because 
	          he's a drunk- -!
	
	Mank spins on him:
	
	                         MANK 
	          AND YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A GODDAMN PHONY! What is all 
	          this "Orson Welles" bullshit?! This boy genius 
	          crap?! What the fuck did you ever CREATE? You're 
	          just another goddamn ACTOR!
	
	Welles shoves Mank violently. Mank goes sailing into the pool.
	
	Mank splashes to the surface and stands for a shocked moment and then 
	wades to the edge of the pool. Miraculously, and like the true drinker 
	he is, Mank is still holding his glass of juice and vodka, now 
	supplemented with pool water.
	
	Welles stands above him, blocking his exit from the pool. From this low 
	angle Welles suddenly looks startlingly Kane- like.
	
	A pause
	
	                         MANK 
	          Let me out.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Listen to me-
	
	                         MANK 
	          Fuck you--
	
	                         WELLES 
	I am giving you the last chance you will ever have to be yourself 
	again!
	
	                         MANK 
	             (suddenly)
	          I don't have it anymore?!
	
	                         MANK 
	          When I was a kid I wanted to scorch the world too -
	          - I had all kinda dreams about making great pictures 
	          and telling great stories. But all that's finished 
	          for me--
	
	                         WELLES 
	          It doesn't have to be
	
	                         MANK 
	          And yeah, sure, Hearst's a great subject. Been 
	          keeping notes on him for years for my ... 
	             (he laughs bitterly)
	          great American novel. But I can't do it anymore. No 
	          studio's gonna hire me and I - -
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I'll hire you  -- right now-
	
	                         MANK
	           I can't do it. okay?! I drink too much -- I drink 
	          all the fucking time and I don't have it anymore. 
	          All that is over for me--
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (roars)
	          NOT UNLESS I. TELL YOU IT IS
	
	A tense pause
	
	Welles kneels by the edge of the pool, effortlessly switching gears.
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (deeply)
	          Look, Mank, this is our only chance
	
	I know this is the story. And now is the time. And I cannot do it 
	without you. Everything in my life -- all the promise and potential and 
	dreams -- have led to this moment right now. To you and me. Right here.
	
	A pause. Welles gazes at Mank, imploring
	
	                         MANK 
	          He'll destroy us.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Then let him. What have we got to lose, you and I?
	
	A long beat Welles leans close to him.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Take my hand, Mank. And we'll dance one last time. 
	          We'll dance to the music of the angels. We'll make 
	          history. We'll scorch the earth. We will ... 
	          astonish them all.
	
	Silence as Welles offers his hand to Mank.
	
	Mank takes a sip from his glass of juice, vodka and pool water.
	
	                         MANK 
	          Thank God you don't write dialogue
	
	INT_WELLES' LIVING ROOM_DAY
	
	Mank is slowly sharpening a series of pencils with a pocket knife, 
	blank pads waiting. Welles is standing across the room from him.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          So, who is he? We have to know him.
	
	                         MANK 
	          Everyone sees someone different. That's what we 
	          show.
	
	                         WELLES
	          How?
	
	                         MANK 
	          Like a jewel. Turn it in the light and a different 
	          facet is illuminated.
	
	Mank finishes sharpening his last pencil and picks up a pad He smiles 
	to Welles
	
	                         MANK 
	          Go
	
	And we leap into MONTAGE -- WELLES AND MANK BRAINSTORM
	
	A rush of jazzy. Gene Krupa percussion as Welles and Mank develop their 
	story.
	
	We see images of feverish creativity. Welles raging, pleading, arguing, 
	pushing. Mank responding, laughing, drinking, writing.
	
	It is a passionate dance of creation Welles' tennis court Mank and 
	Welles are on the tennis court, but hard at work.
	
	Mank waits for Welles to serve. Welles bounces the tennis ball, but is 
	too preoccupied to serve as:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          The key -- the key -- the clue -- what does this 
	          man recall on his death bed? Okay, Mank, you're 
	          dying. What's the last image that comes to you? 
	          Right now.
	
	                         MANK 
	          This girl on a dock. White dress. Never said a word 
	          to her.
	
	                         WELLES
	          Why her?
	
	                         MANK 
	          She was . . . innocent
	
	A beat, Welles deep in thought. Mank watches Welles closely.
	
	                         MANK 
	          So when was our man innocent? Was there a moment 
	          early on -- of innocence and bliss? There must have 
	          been. Okay, you're dying - what do you think?
	
	Welles does not answer. He continues to bounce the tennis ball, deep in 
	thought.
	
	A beat
	
	                         MANK 
	             (probing)
	          Something you lost maybe?
	
	                         MANK 
	          Something you can never get back?
	
	Mank watches as Welles lets the tennis ball drop. It bounces and rolls 
	-- for a fleeting moment in Welles' mind  it seems to become the rolling 
	snow globe from KANE -- we hear the sound of sleigh bells and a child's 
	happy voice -- in the snow globe we seem to see a boy laughing and 
	pelting his father with snowballs. . .
	
	Then more images, mad and outlandish and sedate and solemn; in the 
	kitchen, in a car, around the pool, in a bar.
	
	Welles and Mank act out scenes and argue. They leap from character to 
	character fearlessly. Emoting and laughing and writing. We see the twin 
	joy and terror of walking the tightrope, of sheer creation.
	
	We see them having a ferocious argument. They scream back and forth 
	angrily and then Mank storms out and slams the door. Welles stands 
	alone in his living room, he catches a glimpse of his own reflection in 
	a mirror and we hear:
	
	                         MANK'S VOICE 
	          Men like Hearst don't love..
	
	Welles' living room: Welles is slowly advancing on Mank.
	
	Mank sits, watching Welles approach. The living room is now filthy. 
	Papers and sketches and gin bottles are discarded everywhere around 
	them, a thick cloud of cigar smoke. It is very late at night and the 
	room is in semi-darkness.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          All men love. But men like Hearst -- they don't 
	          bother with convention because--
	
	                         MANK 
	          They don't have to.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          He loves in his own way. On his conditions. Because 
	          those are the only conditions he has ever known.
	
	Welles is now standing over Mank, a dark figure in silhouette. Mank 
	soaks in this somewhat ominous image.
	
	More music and images: eating and working; swimming and working; 
	playing and working simultaneously.
	
	Then: Beach:
	
	Sunset. We see them walking along a deserted beach Welles is walking in 
	the surf, his trousers rolled.
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (quietly)
	          Hearst looks down at the world at his feet 
	          Everything has always been beneath him.
	
	                         MANK 
	          And what does he see?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          The people. When they pay him homage, he adores 
	          them. But when they have the ... audacity to 
	          question him. To doubt him. To embarrass him. Then 
	          he despises them.
	
	                         MANK 
	          And when he looks up? What does he dream about?
	
	31
	
	Welles stops and looks up. A thousand stars twinkle above him. They are 
	reflected in his eyes.
	
	A long pause as he does not answer Mank Then
	
	                         MANK 
	          I'm ready to write it, Orson
	
	Welles turns to him. You're sure?
	
	Yeah. Mank gazes at Welles.
	
	                         WELLES
	
	                         MANK
	
	I know him The clatter of an old typewriter is heard. EXT/INT + 
	BUNGALOW. VICTORVILLE_DAY
	
	Victorville is a rural desert community in San Bernadino County about 
	90 miles from LA.
	
	Mank and John Houseman are ensconced in a bungalow at Campbell's Guest 
	Ranch, writing the movie.
	
	Mank, smoking a cigar, paces around the cacti and shrubs in the 
	backyard reciting to their secretary. She pounds away on a typewriter 
	as he orates. A huge stack of papers lies neatly by her typewriter. 
	This is clearly the longest screenplay in the history of the world.
	
	                         MANK 
	          Leiand: "You talk about the people as if you owned 
	          them. As though they belonged to you. But you don't 
	          really care about anything except you."  Craig: "A 
	          toast then, Jedediah, to all those people who didn't 
	          vote for me today and to love on my own terms. Those 
	          are the only terms anybody ever knows. . . "
	
	We float into the house as we continue to hear Mank's recitation...
	
	Inside, John Houseman is busy rifling through Mank's room as he 
	listens:
	
	                         MANK'S VOICE (CONT.)
	           "...because in the end a man looks into the mirror 
	          and sees one face looking back not humanity -- not 
	          "the people" -- one face. And he's got to be able to 
	          look at that one face and know he was true. "
	
	Houseman uncovers a bottle of vodka hidden under Mank's bed He pours 
	the bottle down a bathroom drain as he calls out the window:
	

	                         JOHN HOUSEMAN 
	          That's too long. Tighten it up
	
	Outside, Mank snarls and then revises:
	
	                         MANK 
	          You're killin' me here, Housey. Okay, make that, 
	          Craig: "A toast, Jedediah, to love on my own terms. 
	          Those are the only terms anybody ever knows, his 
	          own."
	
	Houseman emerges from the house.
	
	                         JOHN HOUSEMAN 
	          Telegram from The Christ Child
	
	He tears open the telegram and reads:
	
	Beat.
	
	                         JOHN HOUSEMAN 
	          "Schaefer loves the idea. Stop. Start writing. 
	          Stop. Stop drinking. Stop. Did you work in the 
	          jigsaw puzzles. Question mark. Don't stop. Stop. 
	          Love you madly, Orson."
	
	                         MANK 
	          That man makes my brain hurt
	
	We fade to a beautiful drawing of a dark, cavernous room. Perhaps it is 
	a perfect matte painting from KANE. Real or illusion? The image turns 
	into...
	
	INT  SOUND STAGE, RKO LOT  DAY
	
	Welles is standing in the middle of an enormous sound stage, empty but 
	for a table with some elaborate set models. He is;' slowly walking 
	around the models, studying them, imagining' his movie.
	
	The sound stage door opens and a man enters, carrying a small black 
	bag. He is cinematographer GREGG TOLAND.
	
	Toland is a quiet, efficient and slim man of 36. He is brilliant and 
	fearless.
	
	Toland walks to Welles and, without a word, pulls an Oscar statue out 
	of the bag and sets it down in the middle of one of the set models. He 
	looks up at Welles as we hear:
	
	                         WELLES' VOICE 
	          And Gregg Toland plunks down his Oscar for 
	          WUTHERING HEIGHTS and says, "Mr. Welles, I want to 
	          shoot your picture. . . "
	
	INT_THE BROWN DERBY_DAY\NIGHT
	
	The chic Brown Derby restaurant is the unquestioned palace of Hollywood 
	celebrities. The smug big-wigs and desperate hangers-on circulate and 
	score points in the Great Game of Movie Gossip.
	
	In one corner booth sits Hedda Hopper, phoning in the latest salacious 
	gossip to her newspaper. In the other corner booth Louella Parsons does 
	the same. They occasionally glance back and forth at each other like 
	ravenous hyenas eyeing the last bit of carrion.
	
	Welles circulates between them. In a scene reminiscent of the famous 
	CITIZEN KANE breakfast table scene with Kane and Emily, we shoot back 
	and forth as Welles applies his considerable charm to both women.
	
	Welles is dressed differently with each of them; breakfast with Hedda 
	and dinner with Louella.
	
	With Hedda, morning:
	
	                         WELLES (CONT.)
	           ... And I said, "Mr. Toland, you are the finest 
	          cinematographer in Hollywood, why would you desire 
	          to work with a stumbling neophyte?"
	
	With Louella, night
	
	                         WELLES 
	          And he replied, "Mr. Welles, the only way to learn 
	          anything new is to work with someone who doesn't 
	          know a damn thing."
	
	Louella screeches
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	             (scribbling on a pad)
	          Priceless!
	
	With Hedda, morning:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Hedda, this movie is going to look like no other 
	          picture ever made.
	
	With Louella, night:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Tome it's a question of truth and illusion. Don't 
	          you get tired of the errant falsity in motion 
	          pictures?
	
	                         LOUELLA
	          Huh?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          What we are going to do is shoot life -- in all 
	          it's joyous complexity.
	
	He takes out a coin and begins a magic trick
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Consider this quarter, my dear. You can touch it 
	          and feel it and were you to lean forward you could 
	          even smell it. Why is it that in the movies a simple 
	          bit of reality -- a quarter, a room, a man--
	
	With Hedda, morning:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Becomes nothing but a lie? A trick. An illusion.
	
	He makes the quarter 'completely disappear. Hedda is charmed
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I will show the reality behind the trick.
	
	He makes the quarter appear again and shows the guts of the trick.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I will use the illusions of Hollywood to show . . . 
	          the truth.
	
	                         HEDDA 
	          What does truth have to do with movies?
	
	With Louella, night
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	             (confused)
	          So, what, it went into your other hand?
	
	With Hedda, morning:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          And so the dreamer awakens into the realms of 
	          reality. He has been given a rendition of the truth. 
	          He has been treated with respect.
	
	                         HEDDA 
	          Orson, that's all terribly interesting but what's 
	          all this about you and Dolores Del Rio? Do I hear 
	          love birds a'singin'?
	
	Welles sighs. With Louella, night:
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          Now, Orson, you know I'm just dyin' to see your 
	          picture and I know it's gonna be boffo, but you're 
	          writing about a publisher, right?
	
	                         WELLES
	          We're using-
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          You're not doin' Hearst, are you?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Good God no! The character is a delicious 
	          amalgamation of various press barons--
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          A delicious amalgamation, is it?
	
	He leans forward to light her cigarette as:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          That's right. A symphony of those: vaunted and 
	          valued tellers-of-truth. Those heroic minutemen 
	          standing sentry on our liberties--
	
	EXT.
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          Orson, hold on. Look into my eyes. Tell me you are 
	          not doing Hearst.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I am not doing Hearst.
	
	INT_BUNGALOW. VICTORVILLE_DAY
	
	Mank and Houseman watch nervously as Welles reads the last page of 
	their massive screenplay.
	
	The script, almost half a foot high, is piled on a table next to 
	Welles.
	
	He sets down the last page and looks at Mank. A beat
	
	                         WELLES 
	          It's 350 pages long.
	
	                         MANK 
	          Yeah, but the margins are real wide.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          It is 350 pages of ... ABSOLUTE INSPIRATION!
	
	He leaps up and embraces Mank
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Housey, get us a drink.
	
	Houseman glances at Welles, surprised, but dutifully scampers inside.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I told you you could do this! How could you have 
	          ever doubted me!? You must never doubt me again!
	
	Mank laughs
	
	                         MANK 
	          It's good, huh?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Good?! Good?! Words fail you at last! It's 
	          terrific! Now I'll have to do some shaping, of 
	          course, and some of the scenes aren't exactly . . . 
	          exactly . . .
	
	                         MANK
	          What?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Short enough. But this is a grand start And I think 
	          we need to change the name.
	
	                         MANK
	          The title?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          No, AMERICAN is a blessed title directly sent from 
	          God's soul to your mind. We shall never change that! 
	          I mean the name of the publisher. Charles Foster 
	          Craig doesn't have the knives-out poetry I need. I 
	          was thinking about "Kane" -- you like that?
	
	                         MANK 
	          Cain -- like the Bible guy?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          K-A-N-E. One strong syllable. Kane I
	
	                         MANK 
	             (weakly)Craig is one syllable
	
	                         WELLES 
	          But it's not a great syllable
	
	Houseman returns with a tray of drinks. Welles hands glasses all around 
	as:
	
	                         MANK 
	          I --um-- I don't know if I should. I ain't been 
	          drinking since I started on this--
	
	                         WELLES 
	             ( toasting)
	          To my invaluable comrade Drink up!
	
	Mank is stunned Welles smiles and drinks.
	
	INT_CAR. DESERT ROADS_DAY
	
	Welles sits in the back of his limo as his chauffeur speeds him back to 
	Los Angeles.
	
	He goes through the script with a fervent intensity. He crosses out 
	huge sections and tosses away entire pages. The' floor around his feet 
	is littered with discarded pages.
	
	Mank sits drinking heavily as the sun sets in the distance Houseman is 
	busy packing in the house behind him.
	
	Houseman notices Mank and goes to him They stare at the crimson of the 
	setting sun for a moment
	
	                         MANK 
	          I'm out, aren't I?
	
	                         HOUSEMAN 
	          Welcome to the world of Orson Welles.
	
	We focus on Mank's glowering face. But the background is somehow 
	different. We are at...
	
	INT_MANK'S CAR_NIGHT
	
	Late at night. Mank is sitting in his car, drinking from his flask and 
	listening to period jazz music from the car radio. He is parked outside 
	Welles' house, waiting and seething and very drunk.
	
	He sees Welles pulling into his driveway and climbing out of his car. 
	Mank takes a final swig and then bolts after him, carrying a script. . 
	.
	
	EXT_WELLES ' HOUSE_FOLLOWING 
	
	Mank roars unsteadily up to Welles:
	
	                         MANK 
	          YOU FUCK! YOU SELFISH FUCK!
	
	Mank flings the script in Welles' face. Welles recoils
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Jesus Christ --
	
	                         MANK 
	          YOU CAN'T DO THIS TOME -- THIS WAS OUR STORY, 
	          REMEMBER? -- YOU AND ME AND GODDAMN EVERYONE ELSE - 
	          - REMEMBER THAT?!
	
	Mank snatches up the script and thrusts it in Welles' face
	
	                         MANK 
	          Pal from the studio sent this -- you see that?! 
	          What does it say?! WHAT DOES IT SAY ORSON?!
	
	Welles bats the script away:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Get away from me--
	
	Mank pushes the title page of the script toward Welles as
	
	                         MANX 
	          It says AMERICAN by Orson Welles. YOU TOOK MY NAME 
	          OFF THE FUCKING SCRIPT!
	
	                         WELLES 
	          It's obviously a mistake, Manki Some steno girl 
	          made a mistake, alright?!
	
	                         MANK 
	          You can't do this to me--!
	
	Welles spins on him:
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (savagely)
	          I fucking well can! I own your script and I can do 
	          anything I goddamn want. And don't forget for one 
	          minute that I took your 350 pages of drunken 
	          rambling and I made a movie out of them -- and now 
	          I've got to shoot the bastard. So thank you very 
	          much, I have all I need. And you can stop calling 
	          me.
	
	He goes into his house and slams the door.
	
	Mank leans against the door in stunned exhaustion. Then he slides down 
	the door and sits leaning against it.
	
	                         MANK 
	             (quietly)
	          I hope you choke on it. I hope it kills you.
	
	Inside the darkened House, Welles is leaning against the front door. 
	Silent.
	
	INT_,, SAM SIMEON. ASSEMBLY RQOM_NIGHT
	
	The Assembly room is Hearst's private sanctum high in a tower at San 
	Simeon.
	
	Marion is valiantly trying to piece together a huge jigsaw puzzle.
	
	Hearst enters and goes to her. He puts his hand gently on her shoulder.
	
	                         MARION 
	          This is supposed ta be Siam or some such. Some 
	          kinda lousy B-B-Balinese temple. This look like a 
	          temple to you? I can't see it myself--
	
	                         HEARST 
	             (quietly)
	          Darling, I talked to Millicent.
	
	Marion stops working at the puzzle. She does not look up. Beat
	
	                         HEARST 
	          She said no
	
	A pause. Then:
	
	Marion slowly reaches out for the puzzle and delicately place a piece 
	in the proper position.
	
	                         MARION 
	          There. That's right.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          She's a Catholic. She says it would put her soul in 
	          peril. Divorce is a very serious sin, apparently.
	
	                         MARION 
	             (not looking up)
	          Nuts. She only cares about the money. She thinks 
	          I'll make you cut her out of the w-w-w-w... 
	             (she clenches her fists)
	          will.
	
	A long, difficult pause
	
	                         HEARST 
	          I'm so sorry.
	
	Marion slowly stands and walks to a liquor cabinet and pours a stiff 
	drink.
	
	Hearst watches sadly, but doesn't say a word 
	
	INT_SCHAEFER'S OFFICE. RKO LOT_DAY
	
	Welles paces before Schaefer's massive desk with typical combustible 
	energy. Behind the desk, huge picture windows show the bustling 
	activities of the RKO lot.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          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, grand ring to it 
	          -- and I thought of JOHN CITIZEN, USA but that 
	          strikes me as a bit Warner Brothers. Or, God forbid, 
	          Capraesque. I suppose AMERICAN will do for now but--
	
	                         SCHAEFER
	          CITIZEN KANE
	
	                         WELLES
	          Pardon?
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          CITIZEN KANE There's your title.
	
	Welles muses
	
	                         WELLES 
	          A "Z" and a "K" in the title. That would draw the 
	          eye. For the poster. I like that THE PRISONER OF 
	          ZENDA had a "Z" and a "P" and that worked--
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Now look, Orson, let's not get ahead of ourselves. 
	          The budget projections on this--
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (theatrically)
	          I know, I know! But what more can you expect of 
	          me?! I have pared this story down to the marrow to 
	          save money but to cut more would be to--!
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Listen, get off your horse with me. You know I've 
	          stuck by you since the beginning of time it seems 
	          like, while the stockholders in New York were ready 
	          to cut and run and everyone else in Hollywood was 
	          set to toss me in a rubber room. But your contract 
	          stipulates a max budget of 500 thousand. This one's 
	          gonna come in at 750 thousand. What do we do about 
	          that?
	
	A beat
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Now don't have a fit -- but I want you to think 
	          again about doing WAR OF THE WORLDS-
	
	                         WELLES
	          Jesus
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Do WAR OF THE WORLDS as a feature and everyone's 
	          happy. You make some money and New York's happy and 
	          you have a track record and then we'll move on to 
	          KANE.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Please don't ask me to do this.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          It's the safe bet, Orson. There's nothing wrong 
	          with that.
	
	A long pause as Welles leans against a wall, his head down He does not 
	look at Schaefer as:
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (simply)
	          George, I want you to let me make this movie 
	          because I need to make it. And I don't really know 

	          why. Afterwards there' II be all the time in the 
	          world to make money and sell popcorn. And I'll do 
	          that for you. For RKO and New York. But for now ... 
	          please let me tell this story.
	
	A beat. Welles finally looks up at Schaefer
	
	                         WELLES 
	          It's your decision, George. If you look into my 
	          eyes right now and say, go make WAR OF THE WORLDS, I 
	          will. I'll make it. And, yes, it'll make you money.
	
	And I honestly can't think of a reason in the world why you should let 
	me do KANE other than that you should.
	
	A long pause as Schaefer studies Welles. Then
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          If it'll get you the hell out of my office, go 
	          ahead and make the picture.
	
	Welles drops his head, too moved to speak.
	
	Then he nods to Schaefer and begins to leave.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Say thank you, Orson.
	
	Welles glances at him. 
	
	                         SCHAEFER
	          For the title
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (smiles)
	          Ah, it's a grand title.
	
	He sweeps out. Schaefer smiles and shakes his head.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Like it would kill him to say thank you
	
	EXT_SOUND STAGE. RKO LOT_DAWN
	
	The sun is just rising on the RKO lot. We note a sign on the wall by 
	the sound stage door:
	
	CITIZEN KANE. RKO PRODUCTION #281. DIRECTOR: ORSON WELLES 
ABSOLUTELY NO 
	ADMITTANCE.
	
	INT_RKO SOUND STAGE_FOLLOWING 
	
	Absolute silence.
	
	Welles stands in the mammoth sound stage and looks around, it is as if 
	he has entered a great cathedral. A few lights illuminate portions of 
	the stage and giant lighting rigs and scaffolding soar to the unseen 
	ceiling miles away.
	
	The Xanadu Great Hall set awaits.
	
	Welles slowly walks to the set and stands, surveying his domain, 
	savoring the moment.
	
	Title: JULY 30, 1940
	
	He clears his throat and speaks, rehearsing his first day speech to the 
	cast and crew. His voice echoes.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Today we - -
	
	He stops, surprised by the echo.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Today we are going to break every rule in motion 
	          picture history...
	
	No . . We are going to shatter every rule in
	
	Today we are going to shatter the hallowed busts of Griffith and 
	DeMille and Ford. We are going to show the world a new way of seeing. 
	Together we will blaze a trail...
	
	As Welles continues to rehearse we slowly ascend the scaffolding and 
	lighting rigs...
	
	                         WELLES' VOICE 
	          Together we will throw away all the maps and we 
	          will become -joyously lost in the wilderness. And 
	          the future cartographers of Hollywood will forever 
	          chart our course. Following our lead...
	
	We continue to ascend and finally discover two electricians on the 
	upper catwalk, staring down in amusement, much like the two stagehands 
	at the opera in KANE.
	
	                         WELLES' VOICE 
	          And do you know why we're going to do this?
	
	Again to Welles on the stage floor: A beat. Welles slowly smiles.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          We're going to do this because it's going to be 
	          fun.
	
	Above, one of the electrician's throws the switch on a huge spotlight.
	
	Welles is captured in the vibrant white light and Benny Goodman's 
	immortal "SING, SING, SING" immediately explodes and we are into:
	
	THE MAKING OF CITIZEN KANE
	
	A camera crane sweeps dramatically to the ceiling of the sound stage 
	and brilliant white lights flash on.
	
	A film clapper snaps: CITIZEN KANE. RKO PRODUCTION 281 DIRECTOR: 
ORSON 
	WELLES.
	
	And we see Welles racing heroically into making his first movie:
	
	In varying KANE makeups he tears through scenes and actors: laughing 
	with AGNES MOOREHEAD on the cabin set; charming RUTH WARRICK on 
the 

	breakfast table set; berating DOROTHY COMMINGORE on the Great Hall 
	set...
	
	He speeds back and forth and back and forth from the set to the camera 
	in the Campaign Headquarters set, never happy with the shot. . .
	
	Gregg Toland watches, bemused, as Welles shifts tiny prop pieces on the 
	set. . .
	
	Welles bullies and screams and pleads and seduces. Like an obsessed 
	artistic tornado he is seemingly everywhere at once. We see him 
	rejecting matte paintings and in makeup and rewriting the script and 
	trying on costumes and selecting props and leaping into odd positions 
	looking for the perfect camera angle.
	
	It is very important in this sequence that we see the pressure building 
	... building ... building ... on Welles.
	
	"SING, SING, SING" continues On the Xanadu stairway set Welles behind 
	the camera, filming actor Paul Stewart
	
	                         PAUL STEWART 
	          "Rosebud? I'll tell you about Rosebud.
	
	                         WELLES
	          Again.
	
	A film clapper: take 58
	
	                         PAUL STEWART 
	          "Rosebud? I'll tell you about Rosebud.
	
	                         WELLES
	          Again. 
	
	A film clapper: take 59
	
	                         PAUL STEWART 
	          "Rosebud? I'll tell you about Rosebud.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Again
	
	"SING. SING, SING" continues...
	
	in a corner of the sound stage:
	
	Welles, in full Kane makeup, studies a miniature model of the Kane 
	Campaign Headquarters set through a tiny periscope with cinematographer 
	Gregg Toland.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          It needs a ceiling, Gregg. Real rooms have real 
	          ceilings.
	
	                         GREGG TOLAND 
	          You want a ceiling on this one too?
	
	                         WELLES
	          You bet.
	
	                         GREGG TOLAND 
	          Gonna be tough
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (smiles)
	          No, it's gonna be impossible. That's why we're 
	          doing it.
	
	SING, SING, SING" continues Back on the Xanadu stairway set: Poor Paul 
	Stewart, now at his wit's ends, continues:
	
	                         PAUL STEWART 
	          "Rosebud? I'll tell you about Rosebud."
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Again
	
	The film clapper: take 112.
	
	                         PAUL STEWART 
	          "Rosebud? I'll tell you about Rosebud
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Again
	
	Paul Stewart screams and collapses. "SING, SING, SING" continues... On 
	the Atlantic City nightclub set:
	
	Welles watches as the camera crane attempts the dizzying and difficult 
	maneuver from the skylight at the top of the set
	
	down to Dorothy Commingore as Susan Alexander below. The camera crane 
	goes out of control and crashes through some light fixtures and swings 
	crazily down toward Dorothy Commingore. She yelps and leaps away as the 
	camera barrels through the table and smashes to the floor.
	
	Welles stands next to Toland. A beat.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Well, that didn't really work
	
	"SING, SING, SING" continues. Back on the, Xanadu stairway set
	
	Paul Stewart, dazed and shattered, is listening intently. Welles stands 
	with his arms around Stewart, embracing him, whispering into his ear.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          It is the most important line of the picture. You 
	          will weave the magic of "Rosebud" in a single word -
	          - you will say the word in such a way as to impart 
	          to us the mystery of it. It is a divine and sinister 
	          mystery worthy only of your talent. In this one word 
	          the movie soars or falls. Once more, I beg you.
	
	Stewart nods. The film clapper: take 178.
	
	The cameraman leans into the viewfinder. We see his black- and-white 
	view of the shot through the lens then:
	
	In a cramped editing room we see Welles watching the scene on an old 
	editing moviola.
	
	On the moviola we see Paul Stewart taking a deep breath and then, 
	magnificently:
	
	                         PAUL STEWART 
	             (On moviola)
	          "Rosebud? I'll tell you about Rosebud."
	
	                         WELLES' VOICE 
	             (On moviola)
	          Print. ;'
	
	On the moviola we see Stewart laugh hysterically and dance away.
	
	In the editing room, Welles shakes his head
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Actors.
	
	"SING, SING, SING" continues. On the Campaign Headquarters set:
	
	Welles and Toland lie on the floor of the Campaign Headquarters set and 
	gaze up through viewfinders. They squirm about on the floor and laugh 
	to one another about their newest outlandish idea.
	
	Then Toland notices something in the catwalks high above the set. A 
	redheaded ELECTRICIAN.
	
	                         TOLAND Orson, you see that electrician up there? The redhead. 
He was 
	on GRAPES OF WRATH. He's a free- lance studio spy. Probably reports 
	right back to the RKO boys in New York.
	
	Welles slowly stands and THUNDERS:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          STOP EVERYBODY STOP!
	
	All the flurried activity on the sound stage immediately stops.
	
	Every eye turns, terrified, to Welles. Welles glares up at the 
	redheaded electrician
	
	                         WELLES 
	          YOU COME DOWN HERE!
	
	The electrician slowly climbs down from the rafters. Welles rivets him 
	every step of the way.
	
	The electrician stops before Welles.
	
	                         ELECTRICIAN 
	          Mr. Welles...?
	
	A tense beat and then Welles fiercely and purposefully spits in the 
	electrician's face.
	
	The electrician recoils, stunned.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          GET OUT
	
	Welles returns to Toland as the electrician slinks off "SING, SING, 
	SING" continues as:
	
	We see the magnificent film emerging. Welles watching scenes in a 
	screening room, his feet up, exhausted, almost asleep, a cigar dangling 
	from his lips...
	
	We see rushes of Welles going through scenes with Dorothy Commingore as 
	Susan Alexander. He is relentless with her off camera, driving her to 
	the harridan outbursts he wants just before he steps into the shot...
	
	We see the crew observing, with great amusement, Welles' stumbling 
	attempts to learn the "Charlie Kane" dance...
	
	We see Toland shifting lights to achieve deep-focus cross-fades. Welles 
	rages as the difficult process eats up time...
	
	We see Welles growing increasingly manic. The long hours and the 
	pressure are clearly taking a toll..
	
	We return to the screening room. Welles is now fully asleep. His cigar 
	falls from his mouth and begins smoldering on his suit.
	
	"SING, SING, SING" fades at... On a Xanadu set:
	
	Filming a scene. Welles, in old-Kane makeup, is sitting with Dorothy 
	Commingore as Susan Alexander. He is curiously distracted. She is 
	pouring tea in the scene:
	
	                         DOROTHY COMMINGORE 
	          "Charlie, you sure got the funniest ways of looking 
	          at things . "
	
	Welles does not respond. He breaks character
	
	                         WELLES 
	          No -- no -- I'll pour the tea. Sorry. I should pour 
	          the tea. Let's try that again.
	
	Toland stands behind the camera and watches Welles. There is obviously 
	something wrong.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Okay, here we go... Set. Action
	
	Welles pops into character and pours the tea in the scene as:
	
	                         DOROTHY COMMINGORE 
	          "Charlie, you sure got the funniest ways of looking 
	          at things . "
	
	Welles stops, breaks character again:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          No -- that's not right
	
	He clears his throat and glances at the enormous crew, all staring back 
	at him expectantly.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Urn. . . ah . . . yes -- you should definitely pour 
	          the tea. Okay, again. Sorry.... Set. Action.
	
	They start the scene again. She pours the tea
	
	                         DOROTHY COMMINGORE 
	          "Charlie, you sure got the funniest ways of looking 
	          at things . "
	
	A pause as she waits for his reply in the scene He sits, frozen.
	
	                         TOLAND 
	          Orson, you wanna take five?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Five...? Yes. No. We're done today
	
	He slowly walks off the set as he nervously pulls at his tie, tearing 
	it off.
	
	Toland watches him go. 
	
	INT_BROWN DERBY_DAY
	
	Louella is at her usual corner booth, on the phone to one of her many 
	spies. She is devouring a Cobb salad as she hears:'
	
	                         PHONE VOICE 
	          I don't know if this means anything but I just 
	          talked to a guy in the RKO art department They've 
	          got all these books and crap all over the place. 
	          Pictures of San Simeon.
	
	Louella instantly stops eating
	
	                         PHONE VOICE 
	          For the Welles picture.
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          Pictures of the castle?
	
	                         PHONE VOICE
	          Yeah
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          Thanks, doll. Get me more.
	
	She hangs up, intrigued.
	
	INT_WELLES' HOUSE_
	
	Welles is standing, absolutely lost, in the middle of his living room. 
	He is still in his old-Kane makeup which is just beginning to peel off 
	his face.
	
	We hear a low, insistent drum beat, a Gene Krupa riff.
	
	We hear the sound of an ice pick chipping into a block of ice. Welles 
	glances around. We are no longer in Welles' living room but at. . .
	
	INT_MANK'S HOUSE. SANTA MONICA_DAY
	
	A turntable spins in a corner, playing a Gene Krupa record. Ashtrays 
	overflow with cigar butts and messy piles of pages are littered around 

	a typewriter.
	
	Mank's beach house is tiny and on the edge of squalid
	
	Welles, still in his peeling old-Kane makeup, is standing in the middle 
	of the living room and Mank is in the small kitchenette, chipping ice 
	for drinks.
	
	A long pause
	
	                         WELLES 
	          And I'm looking at them -- and they're all looking 
	          at me and I don't know who should pour the tea. '
	
	                         MANK
	          Uh huh.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I just can't . . see it anymore
	
	Mank returns to the living room and thrusts a drink in Welles hand.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I want you back
	
	                         MANK 
	          Fuck you. (He sits.) You wanted me out. I'm out.
	
	                         WELLES
	          I'm sorry.
	
	                         MANK
	          I don't care.
	
	Welles hands Mank a folded script from his jacket. Mank looks at it as:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          This is the shooting script we've been using every 
	          day.
	
	Sure enough, the title page of the script reads: CITIZEN KANE by Herman 
	J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          It's just like we always said it would be
	
	Mank hands it back
	
	                         MANK 
	          Too late, kid.
	
	Welles sits.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Did I ever tell you about my father?
	
	                         MANK 
	          I don't give a shit about-
	
	                         WELLES 
	          He was a drunk. And he was my father and I was 
	          ashamed of him.
	
	A beat. Welles proceeds quietly and with difficulty.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          He showed me the world, he took me with him 
	          everywhere -- Europe, China -- and he was so proud 
	          of me. But he would drink and he would get 
	          ...embarrassing. And I began to resent him Because I 
	          was so ... sparkling, you see.
	
	So I cut him dead. I turned my back and I walked away because I didn't 
	need him. He was getting in the way of my "genius." And he would write 
	me letters, and I never answered them, and he would call me, and I 
	never took his calls, and he showed up at school and I wouldn't see 
	him.
	
	Tears are beginning to inch down Welles' face
	
	                         WELLES 
	          When I finally saw him again, he was in a coffin. I 
	          was fifteen. And all of a sudden he wasn't that 
	          embarrassing drunk anymore ... he was the man who 
	          showed me the world.
	
	Welles looks up at Mank, tears now streaming down his face.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Just like you, Mank.
	
	A long beat. Mank, despite himself, is moved.

	
	To cover his emotion Mank rises and goes into the kitchen to freshen 
	his drink. We remain tight on Welles as we hear Mank's voice:
	
	                         MANK'S VOICE 
	          So you've lost it? Don't know who should pour the 
	          tea.
	
	                         WELLES
	          Yeah
	
	A beat
	
	                         MANK'S VOICE 
	          Orson ... just cut the goddamn tea
	
	                         WELLES
	          Okay
	
	A beat. Welles reaches for a cigar, tears still wet on his face.
	
	                         MANK'S VOICE 
	          I been thinking about the beach scene. You done 
	          that yet?
	
	                         WELLES
	
	No
	
	                         MANK'S VOICE 
	          Good -- cause I was thinking that we're starting 
	          the scene too late...
	
	Welles quickly bites off the end of his cigar -- his expression one of 
	"Gotcha!" -- even as. his cheeks are still wet with tears.
	
	                         MANK'S VOICE (CONT.) 
	          Cause if we don't show Susan watching Kane more 
	          then we're not building the right tension into the 
	          scene. See, she's gotta know that...
	
	Welles slowly smiles as the record of Gene Krupa's percussion segues 
	into the unmistakable rhythms of "SING, SING, SING" and eclipses Mank's 
	voice...
	
	And we see Welles everywhere, more energized than ever: perilous on a 
	high crane; stuck in a cramped corner behind the camera; doing magic 
	tricks for the cast; sleeping as makeup is applied to his face...
	
	Mank is always at Welles' side: supporting; challenging; amusing; 
	inspiring. . .
	
	We see Welles strutting, raging, boasting, dancing. And again towering.
	
	"SING, SING, SING" finally ends at..
	
	Through the black-and-white viewfinder we see Welles, in full costume 
	and makeup, carefully walking across the massive Kane Campaign 
	Headquarters set toward us. We see the low angle black-and-white 
	camera's perspective.
	
	                         TOLAND'S VOICE 
	          Closer ... closer ... closer -- stop. We just lost 
	          your head.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Can you see my shoes?
	
	                         TOLAND'S VOICE 
	          Yeah, but we lose your head.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Goddamn it Joe -- stand here
	
	JOSEPH COTTON, also in full costume and makeup, steps into the shot and 
	takes Welles' position as Welles scurries out of the frame. . ..
	
	INT_SOUND STAGE. RKO_NIGHT. FOLLOWING
	
	Welles marches across the set and squirms into position at the camera, 
	which is right on the floor, and peers up through the viewfinder.
	
	Toland lies next to him. Mank stands to one side and- watches.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          It's just not low enough. This is the scene. We 
	          have to look up at these two man as pillars soaring 
	          to the sky. As towering virtues in combat--
	
	                         TOLAND 
	          Spare me the aria, I know what you want--
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I need my shoes in total focus right here and also 
	          Joe back there--!
	
	                         TOLAND 
	          I know what you want but it can't be done!
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Take apart the fucking camera rig -- we could get a 
	          few more inches down and then tilt up--
	
	                         TOLAND 
	          Orson -- we can't get the fucking camera any 
	          fucking lower so find another fucking shot!
	
	Welles thinks for a moment and then bolts up. Toland watches, 
	mystified, as Welles races to a sound stage fire station and grabs a 
	fire axe. Welles storms back to the set and raises the axe high. Toland 
	quickly rolls away. And Welles slams the axe into the wooden floor of 
	the set. He continues to hack at the floor.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Come on, Gregg! We'll tear out this floor!
	
	Welles and Toland and various grips hack at the floor
	
	Mank watches, bemused, and checks his watch
	
	Welles and Toland finally tear away the remnants of the wooden floor. 
	They stare down, defeated. Under the wood is solid concrete.
	
	Welles and Toland stand and stare at the concrete
	
	                         TOLAND 
	          It's midnight, why don't we pick it up tomorrow?
	
	Welles does not answer. He continues to eye the concrete Then:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Get me a jackhammer.
	
	We see a grip pounding away at the concrete with a jackhammer as 
	Welles, always in motion, sweeps past Mank and Joseph Cotton.
	
	                         MANK 
	             (wryly, to Cotton)
	          There but for the grace of God, goes God.
	
	Welles slams to a halt in front of the unit physician and thrusts out 
	an arm. The physician injects him with a dose of B-12.
	
	Welles can barely wait for the injection before he speeds off.
	
	Welles supervises as Toland lowers the camera into the freshly dug hole 
	in the middle of the sound stage. Mank checks his watch, 3:30 AM.
	
	Welles leaps into the trench to check the camera setup.
	
	Again we see the view through the black-and-white viewfinder. Joseph 
	Cotton stands at a distance, at the far wall of the set.
	
	                         WELLES' VOICE 
	          Okay, Joe . . . come closer . . . closer
	
	We see Cotton approaching. He finally stops inches away from the 
	camera. His shoes and the far wall of the set are both in total focus. 
	It is a breathtaking, vertiginous shot.
	
	Then we see Welles and Joseph Cotton rehearsing and rehearsing and 
	filming and filming the scene. Endlessly
	
	Finally we seem to be seeing the scene from the movie
	
	                         WELLES 
	          "Well, if you got drunk to talk to me about Miss 
	          Alexander, don't bother. I'm not interested. I've 
	          set back the sacred cause of reform, is that it? All 
	          right, if that's the way they want it, the people 
	          have made their choice. It's obvious the people 
	          prefer Jim Gettys to me."
	
	                         JOSEPH COTTON 
	          "You talk about the people as if you owned them. As 
	          though they belonged to you. As long as I can 
	          remember, you've talked about--" (he breaks 
	          character)
	          Orson, I am so goddamn tired--
	
	We continue to watch the scene through the viewfinder:
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (to the camera operator)
	          Keep filming.
	
	                         JOSEPH COTTON 
	          I can't remember the lines!
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Then make them up! You're drunk and you're angry.
	
	He shoves Joseph Cotton brutally
	
	                         WELLES 
	          This is the chance you've been waiting for, boy. 
	          Tell that son of a bitch just what you think of him!
	
	                         JOSEPH COTTON 
	          We're not all hopped up on benzedrine, Orson I Some 
	          of us humans need sleep!
	
	Welles shoves him again.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          You're not going to get another chance, boy! Look 
	          right at the monster and you tell him--
	
	                         JOSEPH COTTON 
	             (deeply)
	          "You don't care about anything except you. You just 
	          want to persuade people that you
	
	                         JOSEPH COTTON (CONT.) 
	          love them so much that they ought to love you back. 
	          Only you want love on your own terms. "
	
	                         WELLES 
	          "A toast then, Jedediah, to love on my own terms. 
	          Those are the only terms anybody ever knows, his 
	          own."
	
	Welles/Kane drinks. A long pause.
	
	                         WELLES
	          Cut. Print
	
	We jump out of the black-and-white viewfinder and into the scene as 
	Welles turns to an assistant.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          How 'bout a real drink?
	
	                         TOLAND
	          We done?
	
	                         WELLES
	          Yeah. 
	
	The crew members exhale and practically collapse
	
	Welles stands and looks around in satisfaction. He takes in the empty 
	corners of the sound stage, the sets, the cameras Savoring the moment.
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (quietly)
	          It's finished.
	
	He walks to the massive doors of the sound stage and pulls them open.
	
	Sunlight floods in.
	
	Outside it is a blazing morning and the dazzling sunlight silhouettes 
	Welles.
	
	Welles squints and steps into the glorious sunlight. Mank and Toland 
	follow. They stand and watch as RKO extras and crews bustle about on 
	their way to work. The assistant brings a tray of martinis.
	
	They each take a glass. The RKO workers stare at them oddly as they 
	pass.
	
	Welles toasts them.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Good morning, good morning. . .
	
	He grabs a passing extra and dances with her as Mank and Toland laugh.
	
	EXT_HEDDA'S MANSION. PATIO_MORNING
	
	Hedda Hopper reclines on her patio. An extremely ugly pug dog sits in 

	her lap. She has green goo all over her face and a cigarette dangling 
	from her lips.
	
	Title: THREE MONTHS LATER. JANUARY 3, 1941
	
	She is going through the trades. She stops at a particular item. She 
	studies it and then reaches for the phone and dials.
	
	                         HEDDA 
	             (on phone)
	          Orson, Hedda here! You naughty boy! You told me 
	          that I would be positively the first human soul to 
	          see your masterpiece and here I read in the Reporter 
	          that there's a screening tonight for the magazines 
	          ... yes, advance deadlines, I understand . . . (she 
	          smiles) . . . oh, rough cut, uh-huh ... Been there, 
	          Orson, know the drill. See ya tonight!
	
	She hangs up. Her hideous dog leaps on her and starts licking her face 
	goo.
	
	                         HEDDA 
	          Get offa me, ya little prick
	
	INT_OUTSIDE AN RKO SCREENING ROOM_NIGHT

	
	Welles paces nervously outside the doors to the screening room. 
	Schaefer stands leaning against a wall.
	
	From inside we can hear some of the final dialogue from CITIZEN KANE.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          This is an abomination There's no music and--
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          They've all seen a rough cut
	
	                         WELLES 
	          The magazines are one thing -- but Hedda! Why did 
	          we have to let her come?!
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          When Hedda says "I'm coming" you mix a lot of 
	          martinis and you pray.
	
	Silence from inside the screening room. The movie is over. An agonizing 
	silent pause
	
	Then the doors swing open and the guests stream out. Totally neutral 
	expressions.
	
	The bejeweled Valkyrie, Hedda herself, finally emerges. She stops 
	before Welles.
	
	A beat.
	
	She reaches up and pinches his cheek, a bit too hard. And then she 
	slaps his cheek, a bit too hard.
	
	And then she goes
	
	                         WELLES 
	          What the hell did that mean?!
	
	EXT_HEDDA' S MANSION. PATIO_MORNING
	
	Hedda paces and smokes as she waits on the phone. Finally, she is 
	connected:
	
	                         HEDDA 
	             (brightly)
	          Why hello, Mr. Hearst! I'm so delighted you could 
	          take my call. I just wanted to let you know -- I saw 
	          this Orson Welles picture last night. First 
	          screening ever, don't cha know, and, Mr. Hearst, I 
	          don't understand something . . . (she smiles 
	          wickedly) ... I just don't understand why Louella 
	          hasn't told you it ' s all about you. . . Yes, oh 
	          yes . . . My pleasure, sir.
	
	She hangs up
	
	                         HEDDA 
	          Take that, you old cow
	
	INT_SCHAEFER'S OFFICE      DAY
	
	Schaefer sits at his desk, going through some budget sheets. His 
	intercom buzzes, he presses a button:
	
	                         SECRETARY'S VOICE Mr. Schaefer, Miss Parsons is here
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	             (into intercom)
	          Here? As in right outside the door?
	
	                         SECRETARY'S VOICE
	          Yes, sir
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	             (chipper, into intercom)
	          Well, send her in!
	
	He releases his intercom button
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Shit
	
	He bolts up and races to the liquor cabinet as Louella sweeps in like 
	the Lusitania in fur.
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          Schaefer, I gotta see this Welles picture
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Louella, hello, I was just fixing a drink, would 
	          you like--?
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	             (eyeing gossip)
	          You drink at 10 am, do you?
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          No -- no -- I mean--
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          I wanna see the picture today
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          That might be a tad difficult because Orson is 
	          scoring the picture now and he's very particular 
	          about the music--
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          Cut the malarkey, buddy. The boss himself wants me 
	          to see the picture today.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          He personally asked you to?
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          That's right
	
	Beat
	
	                         SCHAEFER
	          Hearst?
	
	                         LOUELLA
	          Uh-huh
	
	Beat
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          I'll be back at noon. Set it up in screening room 
	          four.
	
	She sweeps out
	
	                         SCHAEFER
	          Oh god 
	
	INT_RKO SCREENING ROOM_DAY 
	
	Louella watches CITIZEN KANE
	
	We watch her enormous face, grim and glowering, bathed in flickering 
	blue light as we hear a bit of the dialogue:
	
	                         " KANE " 
	          "You'll continue with your singing, Susan. I don't 
	          propose to have myself made ridiculous. "
	
	                         "SUSAN ALEXANDER" 
	          "You don't propose to have yourself made ridiculous 
	          I What about me?! I'm the one that's got to do the 
	          singing! I'm the one who gets the razzberries!"
	
	With that, Louella bolts up and stomps out of the screening^ room... '
	
	INT_OUTSIDE THE SCREENING ROOM_FOLLOWING
	
	Welles and Schaefer are again nervously waiting in the hallway.
	
	Louella slams out the door and almost crashes into Welles A beat as she 
	glares at him. If looks could kill She storms off
	
	Welles and Schaefer are too stunned even to speak as we hear:
	
	                         LOUELLA'S VOICE 
	          It is . . . assassination.
	
	INT_SAN SIMEON. ASSEMBLY ROOM_DAY
	
	Hearst sits with one of his dachshunds on his lap Louella sits across 
	from him.
	
	Hearst does not move a muscle in the entire scene.
	
	                         LOUELLA (CONT.) 
	          It's all you. It has the political campaigns and 
	          the mining fortune and the war with Pulitzer and the 
	          castle. And ... Marion.
	
	                         HEARST
	          How so?
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          The jigsaw puzzles and the, urn, career -- the man 
	          spending a fortune to make her a star -- only it's 
	          opera and not movies. And...
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Yes?
	
	                         LOUELLA
	           (quietly)
	          The drinking.
	
	A beat
	
	                         HEARST 
	             (very controlled)
	          So my life is a subject for mockery. All of it. 
	          Every detail. Every personal detail.
	
	Louella nods.
	
	A beat.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Thank you for your time
	
	                         LOUELLA
	          Thank you, sir. She begins to leave
	
	A beat
	
	A pause
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Miss Parsons, I have one additional question for 
	          you.
	
	                         LOUELLA
	          Sir?
	             (stops)
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Why did we not know about this sooner?
	
	                         LOUELLA
	          Sir?
	
	                         HEARST 
	          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 you are of no use to me.
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          Sir, I-
	
	                         HEARST
	             (lethally)
	          Please be quiet.
	
	A 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.
	
	                         LOUELLA
	          He lied to me
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          He looked into my face and told me it wasn't about 
	          you.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          And how do you feel when you are lied to?
	
	A beat.
	
	                         LOUELLA
	          I want blood
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Good. Retain that feeling. Let it nourish you from 
	          this day forth. It shall nourish us both
	
	She nods and leaves the room We linger on Hearst, his expression dark 
	and dangerous. 
	
	INT_SCHAEFER'S OFFICE_EVENING
	
	Welles reclines on a sofa, smoking a cigar, orating, while Schaefer 
	sits at his desk absently flipping through the evening edition of the 
	LA EXAMINER.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Give me one dinner with her and I'll sort it out. 
	          Woman of a certain age are woefully susceptible to a 
	          younger man's charm. I'll make myself so 
	          monumentally attractive that
	
	He is distracted by Schaefer flipping through the newspaper anxiously. 
	Schaefer tears back and forth in the paper and then swivels around in 
	his chair to grab another newspaper. He flips through it. And then 
	stops.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	             (sickened)
	          Oh Christ...
	
	Welles leaps up and goes to Schaefer's desk.
	
	Schaefer has placed the two newspapers side by side on his desk.
	
	He points to one
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          This is the morning edition of the EXAMINER.
	
	He points to the other
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          And this is the evening edition. Notice anything?
	
	                         WELLES
	          The ad..
	
	Indeed, the morning edition contains a large ad for the RKO movie KITTY 
	FOYLE. In the evening edition the ad has been replaced by innocuous 
	copy.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          They dumped our ad.
	
	He flips through the evening edition and then looks up at Welles.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	             (quietly)
	          They dumped all our ads.
	
	INT_MAYER'S OFFICE_DAY 
	
	Louis B. Mayer sits at his massive desk, taking notes Hearst sweeps in. 
	Mayer is surprised. 
	
	                         HEARST
	          Louis
	
	                         MAYER
	          Randolph!
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Hope you don't mind my popping in--
	
	                         MAYER 
	
	No -- no -- sit down, please
	
	                         HEARST 
	             (sitting)
	          What a wretched place this is. I can't come to town 
	          without feeling filthy. You really must buy that 
	          parcel of land by the castle and come north.
	
	I only wish I could. You know, business
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Quite. And this is why I came to visit. Have you 
	          heard about this CITIZEN KANE picture?
	
	                         MAYER
	          Over at RKO?
	
	A beat.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Mm. Not a very good picture I am told.
	
	                         MAYER 
	             (confused)
	          Uh-hub.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Apparently it details the exploits of a publisher 
	          like myself. Entirely too much like myself. Do you 
	          follow so far?
	
	                         MAYER
	          Yeah
	
	A beat.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          I can't see how the release of that picture will do 
	          anyone any good, really.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Say, while I'm in town why don't we play 18 holes 
	          at Bel Air? Or maybe just nine. Do you have time for 
	          a round today?
	
	He gazes at Mayer. Mayer looks at him, disquieted
	
	A pause.
	
	A beat
	
	                         HEARST 
	          And maybe we could get Mr. Warner and Mr. Goldwyn 
	          and Mr. Cohn and Mr. Selznick to play as well.
	
	                         MAYER 
	             (quietly)
	          You know that can't happen.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Oh, why is that?
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Why is that, Louis?
	
	                         MAYER 
	          Bel Air is restricted.

	
	                         HEARST 
	          Oh, that's right. How silly of me to have 
	          forgotten. I sometimes forget that you're all Jews. 
	          Lots of people forget that. If they ever knew it.
	
	A tense pause
	
	                         HEARST 
	          See what you can do about this CITIZEN KANE 
	          picture, won't you?
	
	                         MAYER 
	             (quietly)
	          Yeah
	
	Hearst stands.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          And you'll come out to the castle soon, I hope 
	          Marion and I would love to see more of you.
	
	He smiles and goes. Mayer sits, shaken 
	
	INT_BROWN DERBY_NIGHT 
	
	Schaefer sits with Louella in her corner booth
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          That's right, fella, no Hearst paper will run an 
	          RKO ad until you agree that CITIZEN KANE will never 
	          see the light of day.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Louella, please, be reasonable, I understand you 
	          have problems with Orson's picture but maybe we can 
	          work something out--
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          Nix, sweetie. You shelve it
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Oh for God's sake, Louella-
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          And 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 on back to 
	          New York and do Shakespeare with the Boy Wonder.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Can I talk to Hearst?
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          You are talking to him.
	
	INT   SAN SIMEON. ASSEMBLY ROOM   DAY
	
	Hearst stands with his arms behind his back, very Kane-like, and 
	surveys a collection of about 30 newspapers spread around the floor at 
	his feet. His newspapers.
	
	Marion sits in a corner, doing needlepoint. Hearst picks up one of his 
	papers
	
	                         HEARST 
	          The Journal was pretty harsh to Roosevelt today.
	
	                         MARION 
	          You oughta lay off him -- he is the p-p-president, 
	          after all.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          He is a Bolshevik. He will have us at war by the 
	          end of the year. I think I'm going to run that 
	          wheelchair picture.
	
	                         MARION 
	          Don't
	
	She holds up her needlepoint
	
	                         MARION 
	          Whaddaya think?
	
	It is a sampler reading: BLESS THIS CASTLE He laughs
	
	JOE WILLICOMBE, Hearst's private secretary, enters quietly. Willicombe 
	is a serious and sensitive man in his 60's. He is unquestioningly loyal 
	to the old man.
	
	                         WILLICOMBE 
	          Sir, we got the call.
	
	A moment. Hearst looks at him. Willicombe shakes his head sadly.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Thank you, Joseph.
	
	Willicombe glides out
	
	A long pause as Hearst moves to a window and stares down at his domain. 
	Marion watches him.
	
	                         MARION
	          How bad is it?
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Nothing for you to worry about, darling
	
	                         MARION
	          Pops
	
	A beat
	
	                         HEARST 
	          The S.E.C. has turned down my request for relief on 
	          the debts.
	
	                         MARION
	          How much?
	
	                         HEARST 
	          It's not really--
	
	                         MARION
	          How much?
	
	A -beat
	
	                         HEARST
	          125 million. 
	
	She is absolutely stunned. A pause 
	
	                         MARION
	             (softly)
	          We're 125 million dollars in debt?
	
	                         HEARST
	          Yes.
	
	A pause
	
	Hearst continues to gaze out the window. Marion goes to him and holds 
	him tenderly. ;
	
	They look down at the massive San Simeon estate spreading out like 
	Wonderland below them.
	
	INT
	
	                         MARION 
	          How does one get 125 million dollars in debt?
	
	                         HEARST 
	          One . . . buys things.
	
	INT_RECORDING STAGE_NIGHT
	
	KANE composer BERNARD HERMANN stands before an orchestra, going over 
	some of the music for KANE. He tries various measures and makes 
	adjustments. A movie screen is ready to run sections of the film.
	
	Welles sits at the back of the room, talking quietly to Gregg Toland. 
	Welles is bewitching, spinning a web:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          We open on Monument Valley. Those towering 
	          stalagmites reaching up like pleading fingers to 
	          God. A single figure treads the arid plains. The 
	          crimson sun is behind him so his shadow stretches 
	          toward us. He is a simple man wearing a simple robe. 
	          A profoundly quiet and sad man. Who is he?
	
	Bernard Hermann turns back to Welles and Toland
	
	                         BERNARD HERMANN 
	          Orson, please..
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (whispering, to Toland)
	          Who is he, Gregg?
	
	                         TOLAND 
	             (realizing)
	          Oh, no--
	
	                         WELLES
	          Yes! 
	
	                         TOLAND
	          He's Christ? 
	
	                         WELLES
	          I'm Christ
	
	                         TOLAND 
	          You want to do the life of Jesus?
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Yes! Vibrant and modern and stark like a Picasso 
	          sketch drawn to flashes of lightning I We shoot the 
	          whole thing in the gallant American West--
	
	Mank joins them, carrying a newspaper.
	
	                         MANK 
	          Hey, kid. Gregg.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Mank, sit down. You missed the opening of the new 
	          picture but I'll go back--
	
	                         MANK 
	          No, you gotta hear this-
	
	                         BERNARD HERMANN 
	             (snapping back at them)
	          I'm trying to work here!
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Sorry, you keep at it, old boy.
	
	He leads Toland and Mank out of the stage and into the sound proof 
	recording booth...
	
	INT. _SOUND BOOTH 
	
	A few sound engineers and mixers work over recording panels and watch 
	Hermann and the orchestra as Welles, Toland and Mank enter.
	
	                         MANK 
	          You read Louella?
	
	Welles shudders
	
	                         WELLES 
	          No, but I can imagine. What am I today? A "puny 
	          upstart" or a "spoiled dilettante" -- no, she 
	          wouldn't know how to spell that
	
	                         MANK 
	             (reads)
	          "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?"
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (laughs)
	          Well, at least she's off KANE today
	
	                         MANK 
	          No she's not. Don't you get it, ya lunk? She's 
	          using code language to the studio bosses. 
	          "Bedraggled foreigners and swarthy refugees" -- who 
	          the hell do you think she's talking about?
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (playfully)
	          Hedy Lamarr?
	
	                         MANK 
	          Jews. She's talking about Jews.
	
	beat 
	
	Welles' smile fades.
	
	                         MANK 
	          Who owns this town? Who runs every goddamn studio? 
	          The tribe, baby. These fuckers hear the word "Jew" 
	          and they start sweating. Like Ester Williams' pool 
	          they start sweating.
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (growing tense)
	          So they're Jews. . .
	
	                         MANK 
	          This is just the first shot. Maestro. Sooner or 
	          later she's gonna use the word. And all those boys 
	          know that there is only one thing this country hates 
	          more than the coloreds and that's the Jews.
	
	                         WELLES
	          Christ.
	
	                         MANK 
	          Me, I'm proud to be a Jew, I got no problem. You 
	          don't like it, fuck you. But with these guys it's 
	          like a dirty word. All they wanna be is good red-
	          white-and-blue Americans, and the way they see it 
	          you can't be a good American and a Jew. So Sam 
	          Goldfish becomes Sam Goldwyn and David Selznick 
	          becomes David 0. Selznick -- like anyone's gonna 
	          think he's Irish for fuck's sake--
	
	                         WELLES 
	          What does this have to do with--?
	
	                         MANK 
	             (dead serious)
	          Believe you me, they're gonna do anything -- and I 
	          mean absolutely anything -- to stop that word from 
	          gettin' out.
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (sharply)
	          What?! Are they going to kill me? Is that what 
	          they're going to do?!
	
	One of the sound technicians turns to Welles:
	
	                         SOUND TECHNICIAN Sorry, Mr. Welles, I can't really hear
	
	Welles, Mank and Toland quickly decamp to a hallway outside the 
	recording stage...
	
	INT_HALLWAY_FOLLOWING 
	
	They emerge into the hallway. Mank lights a cigar.
	
	                         MANK 
	             (quietly)
	          Let me tell you a story, son  So this was 1924, 
	          right? Hearst was throwing a birthday party for 
	          Thomas Ince, the old movie producer. They were all 
	          on the old man's yacht taking a nice jaunt from 
	          Pedro down to San Diego. Real foggy night it was. 
	          This was Hearst, Marion, Ince, Charlie Chaplin, 
	          Louella, the usual gorillas. So Hearst notices 
	          Marion slip off with Chaplin -- she was screwing 
	          everyone then -- and the old man goes nuts. Grabs 
	          his revolver and starts shooting. Just like Tom Mix, 
	          standing there blasting away through the fog. Boom -
	          - boom -- boom -- and Thomas Ince takes a bullet 
	          through the head. So now there's this dead guy lying 
	          on the deck. You'll see how this could be quite an 
	          embarrassment. So the empire goes into action. Nice 
	          and quiet and Ince was cremated lickety-split. No 
	          inquest and no police. It was right after this that 
	          Hearst gives Louella her life-time contract. Just to 
	          keep her all hush-hush.
	
	A beat as Mank gazes at Welles.
	
	A beat
	
	                         MANK 
	          If he had known about KANE before you made it, 
	          you'd be dead already.
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (weakly)
	          It's too late. The movie's made
	
	                         MANK 
	          They won't let it out. Not Hearst. Not the other 
	          studio heads--
	
	                         WELLES 
	          You wrote the damn thing, Mank Aren't you going to 
	          fight for it?!
	
	                         MANK 
	             (bitterly)
	          I told you this was going to happen! I told you he 
	          was going to come after us! So we took the chance 
	          anyway and we lost. That's how it goes, okay? I got 
	          my check, kid, and so did you -- and that's what 
	          it's all about -- so fuck it and move on.
	
	Welles leans forward in a sudden explosion of anger
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I WILL NOT MOVE ON! Let them do their worst! These 
	          petty tyrants! These monstrous, small men Do they 
	          think they can stop us? I Who are they?! Who are 
	          they?! THEY ARE . .. ACCOUNTANTS I
	
	Bernard Hermann appears at a doorway from the recording stage.
	
	                         BERNARD HERMANN 
	          We're ready. You want to hear it?
	
	Welles goes with Hermann into the stage. Toland and Mank stand in 
	silence. Then:
	
	                         TOLAND 
	          His next picture ... he wants to play Christ.
	
	                         MANK 
	          Hope he's planning to start with the crucifixion.
	
	76 INT_RECORDING STAGE_FOLLOWING 
	
	Welles sits at the back of the stage, deep in thought
	
	Bernard Hermann raises his baton and prepares to conduct. The opening 
	shots of KANE -- fog shrouded Xanadu -- are projected on the screen. 
	Hermann conducts and the orchestra plays.
	
	We watch the first images of the film with the brilliant music.
	
	We pull back to reveal we are at 
	
	INT_SAN SIMEON. SCREENING ROOM_NIGHT
	
	Hearst and Marion are sitting in the plush San Simeon screening room, 
	surrounded by a passel of dachshunds. Five or six friends are also 
	spread around the room. Joe Willicombe is also present.
	
	We watch their faces as they watch CITIZEN KANE
	
	During this sequence we hear bits and pieces of KANE as we watch Hearst 
	and Marion react.
	
	We see Marion's initial amusement give way to a forced neutrality.
	
	We see Hearst becoming increasingly uncomfortable, reacting physically, 
	almost writhing, as his soul is laid bare. Then his face grows cold. 
	Drained.
	
	We see Joe Willicombe, offended.
	
	We see the other guests, horrified and afraid to even so much as glance 
	at Hearst.
	
	Finally, we hear the ending of the movie:
	
	                         "RAYMOND"
	          "Throw that junk in, too.
	
	We hear Bernard Hermann's closing music begin to play out
	
	Hearst abruptly stands, the final images of the film washing over his 
	face.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Switch it off SWITCH IT OFF
	
	The film suddenly stops and lights come up around the screening room.
	
	Silence No one looks at Hearst.
	
	                         HEARST 
	             (quietly)
	          Would everyone please leave
	
	The guests and Joe Willicombe solemnly file out A pause
	
	                         MARION 
	          Well -- he got us, didn't he?
	She stands and goes quickly to pour a drink. A forced laugh
	
	                         MARION 
	          Nailed us, hub? The crazy old man and his whore.
	
	                         HEARST
	          Marion--
	
	                         MARION 
	          Bought and p-p-paid for. Just like one of his 
	          goddamn statues. Well at least in the movie he 
	          married her!
	
	                         HEARST 
	          This picture--
	
	                         MARION 
	             (deeply)
	          I am not that woman.
	
	A beat.
	
	I know what I could have been. I know what I gave up to stay with you.
	
	                         MARION 
	             (pained)
	          I mean he's even got the goddamn jigsaw puzzles
	
	She dissolves into sobs. He cradles her in the empty screening room
	
	A beat
	
	                         MARION 
	          Why did he do that to us?
	
	INT_SAN SIMEON. ASSEMBLY ROOM_NIGHT
	
	Hearst is as we have never seen him before. He is in a titanic rage.
	
	He paces back and forth violently like a caged animal, becoming 
	increasingly manic and uncontrolled, clenching his fists and barking to 
	Joe Willicombe:
	
	                         HEARST 
	          And now of all times -- NOW -- when I am grasping 
	          on with my fingernails to live at all this Orson We 
	          lies -- this insect -- this reprehensible insect -- 
	          has the nerve TO CHALLENGE ME! To show my life as 
	          some cheap sideshow -- A FREAK SHOW -- A DYING, 
	          IMPOTENT OLD FREAK IN HIS CASTLE!
	
	He smashes a collection of figurines and sends them sailing across the 
	room. Hearst's rage gives way to a darker passion:
	
	                         HEARST 
	             (intensely)
	          Mr. Willicombe -- you have seen me in adversity -- 
	          you have seen me take on the unions and the Congress 
	          and the railroads -- and we have risen above -- we 
	          have risen above. And if that dog Welles thinks he 
	          can strike at me now -- when he thinks I'm weak when 
	          he thinks I'm vulnerable -- then he does not fully 
	          comprehend the man is facing.
	
	                         WILLICOMBE Mr. Welles can't know anything about the 
difficulties 
	we're--
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Get me Louella Parsons, now!
	
	Willicombe picks up a phone and begins dialing as Hearst continues:
	
	                         HEARST 
	          This upstart -- this puny man -- how does he even 
	          dare to imagine he could comprehend my life and my 
	          world when he crawls with the other insects in the 
	          sewer -- in the dung -- when we control every moment 
	          of his life from the instant he is born to the 
	          instant we decide that he will die! Does he have no 
	          idea of the power that controls him?!
	
	                         WILLICOMBE 
	          Mr. Hearst, I have Miss Par'
	
	Hearst snatches the phone from Willicombe
	
	                         HEARST 
	             (on phone)
	          Miss Parsons, Mr. Hearst. Use the file
	
	He slams down the phone
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Now get me J. Edgar Hoover
	
	                         WILLICOMBE It's very late in Washington-
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Then wake him up!
	
	Willicombe begins to dial
	
	                         HEARST 
	             (fervently)
	          That insect thinks he knows me! He thinks he knows 
	          my capabilities! When his neck is in my teeth and 
	          his blood is in my throat then he will know WILLIAM 
	          RANDOLPH HEARST!
	
	INT_MAYER'S OFFICE. MGM_DAY 
	
	Louis B. Mayor's eyes are blinking behind his glasses
	
	In his glasses we can see vague reflections of a series of grainy 
	photographs showing sex acts and illicit assignations and corpses and 
	mug shots.
	
	We pull back to reveal Mayer flipping through a stack of photos and 
	notes.
	
	Louella sits, smoking and supremely confident, across from him.
	
	Mayer finally closes the file and removes his glasses. He rubs his 
	eyes. He rises unsteadily and goes to a liquor cabinet and pours 
	himself a stiff drink. He gulps it down and then returns to his desk.
	
	A pause and then he finally looks at Louella
	
	A beat
	
	A beat
	
	A beat.
	
	A pause
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          So what do we got here, L.B.? We got faggots and 
	          commies and junkies. We got movie stars screwing 
	          niggers and little girls. We got killers and 
	          perverts and whores.
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          We got MGM and Warner Brothers and Columbia and 
	          Disney and Fox.
	
	                         LOUELLA
	          We got Jews
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          We got Hollywood.
	
	                         MAYER 
	             (quietly)
	          What do you want?
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          Kill CITIZEN KANE.
	
	                         MAYER
	          How?
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          I don't give a shit.
	
	A beat
	
	                         LOUELLA 
	          The boss is working on some stuff and I'm working 
	          on some stuff. Now I want all you boys working on 
	          some stuff. Cause if it looks like this picture's 
	          ever gonna come out -- I start running down the 
	          street with these pictures like a screaming woman 
	          with my throat cut, you follow?
	
	J. EDGAR HOOVER'S OFFICE
	
	DAY
	
	Bulldog-like FBI Director HOOVER sits erect at his desk. Behind him an 
	imposing FBI Seal catches the light.
	
	He presses a button on his intercom.
	
	                         HOOVER 
	          Agent McCabe, if you please.
	
	His secretary, clean-cut FBI agent McCABE, enters quickly with a note 
	pad. Agent McCabe scribbles as Hoover dictates:
	
	EXT.
	
	                         HOOVER 
	          Open a new file. Heading: Welles, Orson. Native 
	          born. Communist.
	
	HILLS AROUND SAN SIMEON     DAY
	
	Marion and Joe Willicombe sit in deck chairs under the blazing sun. 
	Marion absently pets a dachshund in her lap. Servants stand behind them 
	with lunch and trays of iced tea
	
	They watch Hearst riding a horse in the distance A pause. Then:
	
	                         MARION 
	          How bad is it?
	
	                         WILLICOMBE
	          Miss Davies--
	
	                         MARION 
	          Come on Joe. How bad is it?
	
	A beat.
	
	                         WILLICOMBE
	          It's finished
	
	Hearst gallops up to them. A servant helps him down from his horse. He 
	strides briskly to Marion and Willicombe as:
	
	                         HEARST 
	          I've been thinking about the Tribune in Chicago. 
	          The Examiner just can't make any headway. 
	          Circulation is still down. I think we should buy the 
	          Tribune.
	
	Marion glances to Willicombe and then looks at Hearst with great 
	tenderness.
	
	                         MARION 
	          Sure, Pops. That's a swell idea
	
	INT_MANK'S HOUSE. SANTA MONICA_DAY
	
	Manks pounding away at a typewriter in his tiny beach house.
	
	He grumbles to himself as he types:
	
	                         MANK 
	          ... and Rita Hayworth says: "You see, he truly was 
	          the Son of God" ... big Toland lighting effect ... 
	          blah, blah, blah ...
	
	A knock at the door. Mank answers it. Clean-cut FBI Agent McCabe stands 
	outside. He flashes his badge.
	
	                         AGENT McCABE 
	          Mr. Mankiewicz, I'm Special Agent McCabe of the 
	          Federal Bureau of Investigation. Might I have a 
	          moment of your time?
	
	                         MANK 
	          Sure, kid, come in. I'm writing the crucifixion and 
	          it's a bitch. Sit down
	
	Agent McCabe sits and snaps open a note pad
	
	                         AGENT McCABE 
	          I would like to ask you a few questions about Mr. 
	          Welles.
	
	                         MANK 
	          You guys after Orson too?
	
	                         AGENT McCABE 
	          Mr. Mankiewicz.
	
	                         MANK
	          Shoot
	
	                         AGENT McCABE 
	          Are you aware of Mr. Welles' Communist 
	          affiliations?
	
	                         MANK 
	          Shit, Orson's no pink. He's everything else under 
	          the sun, but he's no pink.
	
	                         AGENT McCABE 
	          Are you aware of Mr. Welles' Communist 
	          affiliations?
	
	                         MANK
	          No, I am not
	
	                         AGENT McCABE 
	          Do you have any knowledge of Communists working 
	          within the motion picture industry?
	
	                         AGENT McCABE 
	          Do you have any knowledge of Communists working 
	          within the motion picture industry?
	
	                         MANK
	          No
	
	                         AGENT McCABE 
	          Are you now or have you ever been a member of, or 
	          affiliated with, the Communist Party or any of its 
	          front organizations in the United States?
	
	                         MANK
	          Stop it
	
	                         AGENT McCABE 
	          Are you now or have you ever been a member of--
	
	                         MANK 
	          I think you better leave
	
	                         AGENT McCABE 
	          Are you now or have you--
	
	                         MANK 
	             (grim)
	          Get the fuck outta my house.
	
	Agent McCabe snaps his note pad closed and stands.
	
	                         AGENT McCABE 
	             (crisply)
	          Thank you for your time, Mr. Mankiewicz. We'll be 
	          in touch.
	
	Agent McCabe leaves
	
	                         MANK 
	             (calling after him)
	          Don't bother, you low-life prick
	
	Mank slams the door
	
	He stands for a moment, pale, and then goes to the kitchen and pours 
	himself a stiff drink.
	
	INT_SAN SIMEON, ASSEMBLY ROOM_DAY
	
	Marion is pouring a drink as well. She quickly fills a glass of Scotch 
	and then begins striding back and forth across the Assembly Room.
	
	Hearst sits quietly at one of the jigsaw puzzles He occasionally and 
	absently puts a piece in place.
	
	She has clearly been at him for some time
	
	                         MARION 
	          Then you explain it to me?!
	
	                         HEARST 
	          There's nothing to explain
	
	                         MARION 
	          A million dollars a year on art and st-st-statues 
	          and there's nothing to explain?!
	
	                         HEARST 
	          I will not defend my life to you--
	
	                         MARION 
	          I'm not asking you to defend anything. But we're in 
	          a pickle and we gotta talk about it.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          We are in no "pickle" -- as you would 
	          euphemistically have it.
	
	                         MARION 
	          You gotta wake up now. Pops.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          There is nothing to discuss-
	
	                         MARION 
	          You don't have any money left, okay?! That's the 
	          truth. I don't wanna say it, nobody else will say 
	          it, but it's the truth. You spent it all. You can't 
	          buy the Tribune in Chicago -- you can't buy ^ g-g-
	          goddamn thing. Now you better face up to it--
	
	                         HEARST 
	          You are being typically theatrical, Marion. I need 
	          the Tribune to--
	
	                         MARION 
	          You don't need it! That's the problem you always 
	          think you need everything--
	
	Marion spins to a medieval arras cloth hanging from one wall.
	
	                         MARION 
	          That -- did you need that? How much did that cost?
	
	                         HEARST 
	          It's 12th Century. From Deauville -- in France.
	
	                         MARION 
	          I know where Deauville is for C-C-Christ's sake.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          You needn't use that language with me
	
	                         MARION 
	          Did you need it? Did you need any of it?
	
	                         HEARST
	          I wanted it
	
	                         MARION 
	          There's a different between want and
	
	                         HEARST 
	             (tightly)
	          Not for me.
	
	                         MARION 
	             (frustrated)
	          But why? Just so you can show it all off -- just so 
	          everyone can see what a b-b-big man you are?!
	
	He stands quickly
	
	                         HEARST 
	             (angrily)
	          That's right. You've captured me exactly. 
	          Goodnight.
	
	                         MARION 
	          You will not walk out on me
	
	                         HEARST 
	          You are repellant when you drink.
	
	                         MARION 
	          Tough shit. We need to t-t-talk about this--
	
	                         HEARST 
	          You are slovenly and unattractive and I won't (he 
	          mercilessly mimics her) t-t-t-tolerate it.
	
	A cold beat
	
	A pause.
	
	                         MARION 
	          Fuck you, Mr. Kane.
	
	                         HEARST 
	             (darkly)
	          I will not have this in my home.
	
	                         MARION 
	          I just want to understand--
	
	                         HEARST 
	             (suddenly)
	          No, you don't. You want to condemn me, like 
	          everyone else. You want to point to the pathetic, 
	          old man grown lunatic with his spending -- trapped 
	          in his ridiculous
	
	                         HEARST  (CONT.) 
	          castle -- still fighting old battles he will never 
	          win with Pulitzer and Roosevelt and Hollywood--
	
	                         MARION 
	          I don't want you to--
	
	                         HEARST 
	          There is nothing to understand but this:   I am a 
	          man who could have been great, but was not.
	
	He leaves 
	
	INT_SAN SIMEOM. MARION'S BEDROOM_DAY
	
	A silent scene as we see Marion rummaging through some drawers in her 
	vanity table.
	
	A suitcase can be seen on the bed behind her.
	
	She removes various jewelry cases and pours an astounding array of gems 
	into a black leather pouch.
	
	INT. _ELIZABETH ARDEN SALON. BEVERLY HILLS_DAY
	
	Marion sits with Carole Lombard in a secluded section of the luxurious 
	salon.
	
	A quiet scene.
	
	                         MARION 
	          When I met him I was just 20. And he was 55. I saw 
	          the gold ring and just grabbed on. And he was going 
	          to make me a star.  
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD
	          And he did.
	
	A beat.
	
	                         MARION 
	          When I was making movies I kept begging him to let 
	          me do comedies. Silly stuff, you know. But Pops 
	          doesn't get comedy too well so he kept putting me in 
	          all those godawful p-p-period dramas.
	
	Carole Lombard smiles.
	
	                         MARION 
	          I did my best but, well, you know me
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD
	          Sure
	
	                         MARION 
	          Thing that bothers me now, though, looking back is 
	          that I really think I could have been something ... 
	          special.
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	          Thinking like that is only gonna drive you nuts You 
	          were a great star and you had a good run. That 
	          oughta be enough.
	
	                         MARION 
	          Yeah. But all of a sudden it's not
	
	                         MARION 
	          You know this CITIZEN KANE picture? About Pops and 
	          everything?
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD
	          Uh-huh
	
	                         MARION 
	          The character that's supposed to be me, Susan 
	          Alexander--
	
	                         CAROLE LOMBARD 
	          Marion, everyone knows you're not like that--
	
	                         MARION 
	          But I am That's the killer, honey.
	
	This little girl comes from nowhere and gets discovered by this guy. 
	And maybe she has some real talent way deep down. But he pays the bills 
	and he makes the decisions. And somewhere along the way ... she gets 
	lost.
	
	                         MARION 
	          It's hell when you gotta look back and say, 
	          goddamn, what I could have been.
	
	JEWELRY STORE. BEVERLY HILLS
	
	Marion enters a posh Beverly Hills jewelry shop. She is wearing 
	sunglasses.
	
	She nervously goes to the counter and the SHOP OWNER glides to her. For 
	Marion, the entire experience is humiliating. This results in her 
	stutter becoming increasingly more pronounced.
	
	                         SHOP OWNER 
	          May I help you?
	
	                         MARION 
	          I, um, need an estimate on some jewelry I might 
	          wish to sell. But d-d-discretion is very important 
	          to me b-b-because I don't want anyone t-t-to, um, 
	          know that--
	
	                         SHOP OWNER 
	          Excuse me, I hope this isn't rude, but aren't you 
	          Marion Davies?
	
	                         MARION
	          Yes.
	
	                         SHOP OWNER 
	          Well, this is a great pleasure. Miss Davies! I just 
	          saw that ENCHANTMENT is playing at a the Tivoli, the 
	          revival house in Santa Monica. That was a fine 
	          picture!
	
	                         MARION
	          Thank you-
	
	                         SHOP OWNER 
	          Not one of them today has what you had, Miss 
	          Davies. Not one of them.
	
	                         MARION 
	          Thank you -- b-b-but I'd really like t-t-to--
	
	                         SHOP OWNER 
	          Of course, of course. How can we be of service?
	
	                         MARION 
	          As I said I have some j-j-j-j- (she simply can't 
	          get the word out) that I might wish t-t-to sell and 
	          I wanted an estimate--
	
	                         SHOP OWNER 
	          Surely My pleasure, Miss Davies..
	
	Marion removes the leather pouch from her purse and pours a stunning 
	collection of jewelry on a black felt tablet on the counter.
	
	                         SHOP OWNER
	             (awed)
	          My Lord. . .
	
	Marion removes her sunglasses and looks at him. Her eyes are red.
	
	                         MARION 
	          How much for the lot?
	
	EXT_RKO LOT_DAY
	
	Welles is pursuing Schaefer as they stride through the bustling RKO 
	backlot.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          What do you want me to do, Orson? Radio City won't 
	          premiere the picture. Louella threatened them with 
	          some bullshit about
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Then find another theater
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          You don't think I've tried? No one is willing to 
	          open the picture
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Then we'll open it in Detroit or Dallas or 
	          Kalamazoo for God's sake! We'll show it in goddamn 
	          circus tents and--!
	
	Schaefer stops.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Listen to me. The press ban is killing us and the 
	          distributors won't book it. And meantime I'm dealing 
	          with the stockholders in New York who are scared 
	          shitless -- and I'm this far from getting fired 
	          myself -- and you don't have a friend in the world 
	          but me right now. So you have got to trust that I'll 
	          do what I can to--
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (desperately)
	          "Do what you can"?! That's not good enough I
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Well it' s all you've got !
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (suddenly)
	          You're with them, aren't you? You're going to bury 
	          my movie. They bought you!
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	             (turning away)
	          For Christ's sake, shut up--
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Why don't you just have the guts to admit it
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	             (spinning on him)
	          How dare you talk to me like that! Do you think I'm 
	          like all the rest of those pirates?! Like Mayer and 
	          Warner? Is that what you think--?!
	
	                         WELLES 
	          It's just that my movie is so-
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	             (savagely)
	          "Your movie" -- I am so sick of that! It's your 
	          movie -- but it's his life! Did you ever think about 
	          that?! Did you ever think about that old man and 
	          Marion having to watch as you tore them apart?!
	
	                         WELLES
	
	I didn't--
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Do you every think for one second that you might 
	          have some responsibility for what you're doing?! For 
	          cutting and slashing everything in your way so you 
	          can have your goddamn movie?!
	
	                         WELLES 
	          That soulless monster gets no tears from me.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Who the fuck are you trying to kid? You are that 
	          soulless monster.
	
	Schaefer turns and stomps away Welles stands, lost for a moment in the 
	dream factory
	
	In a bit of a daze, Welles slowly begins walking through the backlot. A 
	bustle of loud activity in a corner of the lot draws his attention.
	
	A bulldozer and a dozen workmen are busy tearing down the facade of a 
	large white mansion. They strip the wood off and toss it into an 
	incinerator.
	
	Welles sees Schaefer standing before all this activity, deep in 
	thought.
	
	Welles goes to him and they stand together in silence for a moment as 
	they watch the house being razed.
	
	                         SCHAEFER
	          Recognize 
	
	Welles shakes his head
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          It's Tara. From GONE WITH THE WIND
	
	Pause as they watch Scarlett O'Hara's dream mansion being torn apart.
	
	                         WELLES
	          It's ... sad
	
	A beat.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Not really. It's only a set, after all Just lumber. 
	          .
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	             (quietly)
	          You know, we make all these pictures, we turn em 
	          out one after another, without thinking most of the 
	          time. Just like making toasters or Packards or 
	          toothpaste. But then sometimes ... something amazing 
	          happens and you get a GONE WITH THE WIND.
	
	Or a CITIZEN KANE
	
	                         SCHAEFER (CONT.) 
	          And no one can ever take that away from you.
	
	They gaze at the destruction of Tara as we hear:
	
	                         RADIO ANNOUNCER (VOICE OVER) 
	          ... and in financial news, rumors continue to swirl 
	          around the head of publishing baron William Randolph 
	          Hearst. . .
	
	INT_SAN SIMEON. ROMAN POOL_NIGHT
	
	Hearst sits in a wicker chair by the shimmering in-door Roman Pool. But 
	for Hearst and the single chair, the pool is deserted and has no other 
	furniture.
	
	Hearst is staring at the gold and blue mosaic of tiles reflected in the 
	water.
	
	As we hear:
	
	                         RADIO ANNOUNCER (VOICE OVER, CONT.)
	           ... Sources report that the Hearst Empire is 
	          facing some rocky times ahead as the press lord is 
	          facing mounting debts and shrinking revenues due to 
	          over expansion and fiscal mismanagement that have 
	          resulted in...
	
	The radio voice fades to silence.
	
	The silence continues but for the haunting echo of a lion roaring in 
	the distance. Then Hearst hears the sound of footsteps echoing on the 
	tile. He looks up. It is Marion. She walks around the pool to him.
	
	Without a word she hands him a check.
	
	It is made out to William Randolph Hearst in the amount of one million 
	dollars and is signed Marion Davies.
	
	A long pause. He looks up at her, profoundly moved.
	
	                         MARION 
	          I started out as a gold-digger, ya know But goddamn 
	          if I didn't fall in love with the guy.
	
	EXT_MAYER'S ESTATE_DAY
	
	A row of six shining limousines are lined up in front of Mayor's 
	enormous house. The chauffeurs stand together and chat.
	
	EXT.  MAYER'S ESTATE. BACKYARD
	
	Mayer sits in the glorious back garden of his house. Six other men are 
	gathered around him.
	
	Mayer nods his head to each as we pan around the faces
	
	                         MAYER 
	          Mr. Zanuck ... Mr. Warner ... Mr. Cohn Mr. Disney 
	          .. . Mr. Goldwyn . . . Mr. Selznick.
	
	A beat.
	
	Thank you all for coming. You got my memo. What do we do?
	
	A beat
	
	                         JACK WARNER 
	          He's a fucking punk, why does Hearst give a shit?
	
	                         MAYER 
	          It's enough that he does
	
	                         SAM GOLDWYN 
	          Would Louella really do it?
	
	                         MAYER 
	          In a New York minute
	
	                         DAVID 0. SELZNICK 
	          I say to hell with Louella and to hell with Hearst! 
	          Bring 'em on. We can take em.
	
	                         HARRY COHN 
	          We all didn't make GONE WITH THE WIND, ya know. 
	          Some of us gotta look at this checkbook-wise.
	
	                         MAYER 
	          Who isn't hurting already? All this Jew talk and 
	          these Communist rumors. Look, he's boycotting RKO 
	          ads right now -- but how long before he takes on 
	          Warners or Fox or Columbia?
	
	                         HARRY COHN
	          Goddamn right.
	
	A beat.
	
	                         MAYER 
	          And if Hearst goes public with all this filthy 
	          private lives stuff, Hollywood's sunk. He's got us 
	          nailed. Dates. Times. Photographs for God's sake.
	
	                         WALT DISNEY 
	          I don't mean to be funny, but what could he have on 
	          Mickey Mouse?
	
	                         MAYER 
	          He's got you so tied in with J. Edgar Hoover and 
	          America First that you might as well put on a brown 
	          shirt and kiss those happy little kiddies so-long.
	
	                         DAVID 0. SELZNICK 
	             (suddenly)
	          Have any of you actually seen the movie?
	
	A beat.
	
	                         DAVID 0. SELZNICK 
	          I have. It's probably the greatest motion picture 
	          ever made. Nothing's going to be the same after 
	          this. With this one movie he's changed the way we 
	          see--
	
	                         JACK WARNER 
	          Who the fuck cares?
	
	                         DAVID 0. SELZNICK 
	          I do. And so should all of you--
	
	                         JACK WARNER 
	          Get off the soapbox--
	
	Selznick stands.
	
	                         DAVID 0. SELZNICK 
	          I want no part of this. We should be marching into 
	          George Schaefer's office and standing with him. He's 
	          one of us!
	
	                         MAYER
	          David-
	
	                         DAVID 0. SELZNICK 
	          If I ever got into trouble I'd like to think that 
	          you all would be with me -- not planning to stab me 
	          in the back like a bunch of ... a bunch of ... 
	          producers!
	
	He storms off
	
	                         JACK WARNER
	             (to Mayer)
	          Your son-in-law meshuaena.
	
	A pause.
	
	Laughter
	
	A pause.
	
	                         DISNEY 
	             (nervously)
	          He's got me and Hoover?
	
	                         JACK WARNER 
	          Relax, Walt, at least he don't have you screwing 
	          Snow White. I got fucking Errol Flynn on my payroll!
	
	                         SAM GOLDWYN 
	             (to Mayer)
	          You're a smart man, L.B. I suspect you would not 
	          have called us here without a plan. Give over.
	
	                         MAYER 
	          We will buy the movie and we will destroy it.
	
	                         MAYER 
	          We will assemble a fund between us -- privately, 
	          'not studio money -- we will assemble this fund and 
	          we will go to George Schaefer and we will buy the 
	          negative and every print of CITIZEN KANE and we will 
	          burn them.
	
	A long pause
	
	                         MAYER 
	          If I do not hear an objection to this agenda in the 
	          next five seconds I will assume the motion has 
	          carried.
	
	Five seconds tick by as we focus on the titans of Hollywood
	
	                         MAYER 
	          Very well, my associates will be in touch to 
	          arrange payment. Thank you for your time.
	
	INT_RECORDING STAGE_DAY
	
	KANE composer Bernard Hermann again stands before the orchestra, his 
	arm poised, waiting to begin conducting. He is about to record some new 
	music for the deep-focus Thatcher/Bernstein/Kane scene from CITIZEN 
	KANE.
	
	Welles sits nearby, supervising everything. Welles nods and on a movie 
	screen the scene from KANE begins and Hermann starts conducting. The 
	orchestra plays.
	
	The music carries into and gradually fades during.
	
	INT_SAN SIMEON. ASSEMBLY ROOM_DAY
	
	In a scene eerily reminiscent of the Thatcher/Bernstein/Kane scene, 
	Marion sits in the extreme foreground, a man we do not know sits at 
	middle distance at a desk and Hearst stands far away.
	
	Hearst has his back to them and stares out a window.
	
	The new man is MR. LEWIS, a tight banker from New York, 50's.
	
	He looks over a thick legal document on the desk as he speaks:
	
	                         LEWIS You will retain some editorial control over the remaining 
	newspapers but the actual ownership will go to the Conservation 
	Committee and the banks. We will be immediately closing 12 of the 
	papers and the wire services. And we will be liquidating other assets 
	as soon as possible. Most of the land in Mexico as well as your 
	collection of art and antiquities--
	
	                         MARION 
	             (quietly)
	          Mr. Hearst spent his life collecting that art.
	
	                         LEWIS 
	             (ignoring her)
	          We've been in touch with Gimbels in New York and 
	          they've agreed to hold a special sale. They're 
	          giving over an entire floor for the merchandise. 
	          You'll have to go there in person to sign the bill 
	          of sale, by the way.
	
	                         HEARST 
	             (softly, not turning)
	          I'll have to sell the animals.
	
	                         LEWIS 
	          And we don't know whether we'll be able to retain 
	          the castle. The land has some capital and we might 
	          keep it on as an investment. Maybe break it up into 
	          smaller units for housing.
	
	A long pause Hearst finally turns and walks to them.
	
	                         HEARST 
	             (to Lewis)
	          When will it come out? When will the public know?
	
	                         LEWIS 
	          We can't keep it a secret, sir. Once we announce 
	          the Gimbels sale and start liquidating the assets.
	
	                         MARION 
	             (pained)
	          This is your whole life. Pops. Don't do it. We'll 
	          find another way..
	
	A long beat as he looks at her. Then he quickly signs the document on 
	the desk. He puts down the pen and leaves the room without a word 
	
	INT_SAN SIMEON. STAIRWAY_NIGHT 
	
	Marion sits nestled on a sweeping marble stairway Weeping
	
	INT_NIGHTCLUB. HOLLYWOOD_NIGHT
	
	A swank benefit dinner is in progress A band plays
	
	A banner hangs over the nightclub stage: CHILDREN'S MILK FUND BENEFIT, 
	1940
	
	We float through the elegant crowd and spy Louis B. Mayer and Louella; 
	Clark Gable and Carole Lombard; all manner of movie stars and power 
	brokers.
	
	We also spy Schaefer sitting with Mank and Toland and a few other men 
	and women.
	
	The evening's EMCEE takes the stage
	
	                         EMCEE 
	          Next up we have a real treat. It's Orson Welles. 
	          Now, during the rehearsal for the benefit tonight 
	          Orson banished everyone from the club so he could 
	          proceed in utmost secrecy. But you all know how 
	          Orson is!
	
	Laughter from the crowd
	
	                         EMCEE 
	          So, lets give a big round of applause for Mr. Orson 
	          Welles and Miss Rita Hayworth.
	
	Polite applause as Welles bounds to the stage with RITA HAYWORTH and 
	the band begins to play a buoyant tune.
	
	Schaefer practically drops his fork
	
	Welles is dressed in a padded costume and made up in a way that can 
	suggest no one but William Randolph Hearst. Rita Hayworth is dressed in 
	a manner mightily like Marion Davies.
	
	Louella glances to Mayer, daggers. Some knowing laughter from the 
	audience. Particularly Mank
	
	A line of chorus girls hoof on and join Welles and Rita Hayworth as a 
	row of harsh footlights snap on, giving the scene a resemblance to the 
	"Charlie Kane" dance in CITIZEN KANE.
	
	And Welles launches into a jaunty song and dance version of 
	"DISGUSTINGLY RICH" an almost unknown Rodgers and Hart song;'. Welles 
	has wickedly changed some of the lines. '
	
	                         WELLES 
	          "I'll buy everything I wear at Saks. I'll print 
	          gossip and I'll call it facts
	
	                         RITA HAYWORTH 
	          "Swear like a trooper, Live in a stupor--
	
	                         WELLES AND RITA HAYWORTH 
	          "Just disgustingly rich!
	
	                         WELLES 
	          "I'll make money and I'll make it quick, Starting 
	          little wars I think are slick. Smother her in 
	          sables, Like Betty Grable's-- Just disgustingly 
	          rich.  "I'll build a castle, That'll cost a passel. 
	          And as a resident, I will pan the president I'll 
	          aspire, Higher and Higher. "I'll get married and 
	          I'll buy a girl, So darn pretty that your head will 
	          swirl
	
	                         RITA HAYWORTH 
	          "Swimming in highballs-- Stewed to the eyeballs--
	
	                         WELLES AND RITA HAYWORTH 
	          "Just disgustingly rich!
	
	Welles, Rita Hayworth and the chorines do a nifty soft-shoe turn as 
	Schaefer turns to Mank:
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	             (seriously)
	          He truly doesn't care if he ever works again.
	
	                         MANK 
	          Yeah, ain't it swell?
	
	Welles and Rita Hayworth conclude their little dance break and Welles 
	resumes the song:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          "Ev'ry summer I will sail the sea, On my little 
	          yacht the Normandie, Pet my little dachshund 
	          friends, Kiss Louella's big rear end, Just 
	          disgustingly rich.
	
	About here Louella storms out.
	
	"I'll eat salmon, I'll play backgammon. Turn breakfast into brunch, 
	I'll take Thomas Ince to lunch I'll aspire, Higher and Higher.
	
	About here Louis B Mayer and a few others storm out.
	
	                         RITA HAYWORTH 
	          "He'll be photographed with Myrna Loy, Just to 
	          prove he is a glamour boy.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          "Perfumed and scented, Slightly demented-- Just 
	          disgustingly rich
	
	                         RITA HAYWORTH 
	          "I'll get my capers, Into his papers. Hoping his 
	          folly would Lead me out to Hollywood. I'll aspire, 
	          Higher and higher.
	
	About here Schaefer buries his face in his hands
	
	                         WELLES AND RITA HAYWORTH 
	          "In the funnies and the valentines, We'll be 
	          pictured drinking Ballantine's. Dopey and screwy, 
	          Voting for Dewey.  Just disgustingly-- Too, too 
	          disgustingly-- Riiiiich! "
	
	Welles and Rita Hayworth conclude the number with a big flourish.
	
	Some applause
	
	Mank stands and applauds loudly. Laughing. Welles bows solemnly to Mank 
	
	EXT_NIGHTCLUB_FOLLOWING
	
	Later that night, Welles is about to climb into his limousine outside 
	the nightclub with Rita Hayworth when Schaefer suddenly appears and 
	grabs his lapel.
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (happily)
	          George- -!
	
	Without a word, Schaefer pulls Welles roughly into an alley beside the 
	nightclub. He slams Welles into the alley wall.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	             (brutally)
	          This isn' t some kinda fucking game! You know how 
	          many people RKO employs?! You know how many people 
	          depend on what we do for a living?!
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I really think you're
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          You wanna commit suicide, fine! You got some death-
	          wish, fine! But you will not drag this company down 
	          with you!
	
	                         WELLES 
	          It was a -joke, George
	
	Schaefer slaps Welles firmly across the face. Welles is stunned.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          There are no jokes! There are people making a 
	          living. There is food on the table!
	
	Schaefer glares at him and then rages off
	
	Welles straightens his suit and then, with a shaking hand, reaches for 
	a cigar. He tries to laugh, but cannot.
	
	INT_SCHAEFER'S OFFICE. RKO_DAY
	
	Schaefer sits at his desk, absolutely dazed. Speechless
	
	B. Mayer sits across from him.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Where did this money come from?
	
	beat
	
	                         MAYER
	          It came.
	
	                         MAYER 
	          800,000 dollars fully covers the production budget 
	          and a little more. Hell, George, you even make a 
	          profit on the deal.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Very generous
	
	                         MAYER 
	          And we gotta be clear here. I need the negative and 
	          every existing print.
	
	                         SCHAEFER
	          To do what?
	
	                         MAYER 
	          That's for me to decide.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          You're going to destroy it
	
	                         MAYER 
	          No, maybe put it on the shelf until the old man 
	          kicks it.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          You're lying to me.
	
	                         MAYER 
	          We already made the same offer to the stockholders.
	
	Schaefer is stunned.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          You talked to New York?
	
	                         MAYER
	          Yes
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          You talked to Mr. Swanbeck?
	
	Pause. 
	
	                         MAYER
	          Yes
	
	                         SCHAEFER
	          Get out
	
	                         MAYER 
	          You're bettin' on an inside straight this time. 
	          You'll never pull it off.
	
	                         SCHAEFER
	          Get out. 
	
	Mayer stands and smiles
	
	                         MAYER 
	          This picture, George, it'll just break your heart.
	
	Mayer goes. Schaefer sits, smelling defeat.
	
	We linger on Schaefer as a haunting echo of "I CAN'T GET STARTED" is 
	heard. . .
	
	INT/EXT_SAN SIMEON_NIGHT
	
	We float through the estate as we hear the ghostly strains of Bunny 
	Berigan's recording of "I CAN'T GET STARTED."
	
	It is a sad journey.
	
	By this time many of the ornate antiquities have been removed from the 
	castle and it resembles Welles' stark and dreary Xanadu all the more.
	
	                         BUNNY BERIGAN 
	          "I've flown around the world in a plane, I've 
	          settled revolutions in Spain, And the North Pole I 
	          have charted, Still I can't get started with you...
	
	We float past the private zoo, now empty, the cages hanging open. We 
	move past the tennis courts, empty.
	
	                         BUNNY BERIGAN 
	          "On the golf course I'm under par, Metro Goldwyn 
	          has asked me to star, I've got a house, a show 
	          place, Still I can't get no place with you.
	
	We float into the castle itself and through the stripped- down 
	Screening Room and the Assembly Room and the Great Dining Hall.
	
	All are mere shadows of their past glory.
	
	                         BUNNY BERIGAN 
	          "Cause you're so supreme, Lyrics I write of you, I 
	          dream, dream day and night of you And I scheme just 
	          for the sight of you, Baby, what good does it do...?
	
	We finally float into the ballroom
	
	A record of "I CAN'T GET STARTED" spins forlornly on a turntable.
	
	And Marion and Hearst are having a quiet, poignant dance together in 
	the middle of the empty ballroom.
	
	                         BUNNY BERIGAN 
	          "I've been consulted by Franklin D. Greta Garbo has 
	          had me to tea, Still I'm broken hearted Cause I 
	          can't get started with you.
	
	They finally stop dancing and stand swaying gently. Then they stop 
	swaying.
	
	                         HEARST 
	             (gently)
	          Ah, Miss Davies, the times we have seen
	
	She holds him closely as "I CAN'T GET STARTED" concludes 
	
	INT_CHASEN'S RESTAURANT. PRIVATE ROOM_DAY
	
	Welles has booked a private room at Chasen's. A long banquet table 
	contains cans of sterno heating various dishes.
	
	Large photographs of the American West and renderings from THE LIFE OF 
	CHRIST are scattered around other tables.
	
	Welles wanders around the renderings with Gregg Toland and Mank. Welles 
	carries a plate of food and consumes as:
	
	                         TOLAND 
	          See, this is the Great Salt Lake -- we do the 
	          baptism here.
	
	                         MANK 
	          Great scene where John the Baptist pulls your head 

	          out of the water and says, "Look up, and behold your 
	          destiny"
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Is that from one of the Gospels?
	
	                         MANK
	          Kinda.
	
	Schaefer enters.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          George! Enter And Behold
	
	Schaefer blinks at the massive photos and renderings.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          You're not still mad at me, I hope
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          No, we're jake. But listen-
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Look, not a single scene shot in the studio! We've 
	          found natural locations for the whole story--
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Hold on a sec. I got news. We finally found 
	          somewhere to premiere KANE but--
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I told you! Where? Grauman's? El Capitan? Or did 
	          Radio City come crawling back?
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          The Palace in New York. But Orson there's something 
	          else.
	
	Welles stops eating
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          I think you better sit down
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (evenly)
	          I don't want to sit
	
	Beat.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          The bosses -- the other studios -- they want to buy 
	          the film and destroy it.
	
	Absolute silence
	
	Pause
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          They came to me with an offer. 800,000 for the 
	          negative and all the prints.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          And they went to the stockholders in New York.
	
	                         MANK 
	             (quietly)
	          Oh God.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          I been talking to Swanbeck in New York and... 
	          Orson, I think they're gonna take it A long pause as 
	          Welles looks at Schaefer
	
	Welles suddenly FLINGS his plate of food in Schaefer's direction as he 
	ROARS:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          YOU STUPID, LITTLE MAN! HOW COULD YOU HAVE LET THIS 
	          HAPPEN?! I GAVE YOU MY SOUL AND NOW YOU'RE GOING TO 
	          SELL IT!?
	
	                         MANK 
	          This ain't George's doing--!
	
	Welles- rampages around the room
	
	                         WELLES 
	          I PUT MY LIFE INTO THAT PICTURE -- EVERYTHING I'VE 
	          BEEN -- EVERYTHING I COULD BE---IT'S CITIZEN KANE! -
	          - IT'S ALL CITIZEN KANE!
	
	And in a screaming, bellowing fury, Welles tears apart the room.
	
	In a scene sharply reminiscent of Kane destroying Susan's bedroom, 
	Welles rampages around the room, upsetting tables and smashing 
	everything in reach.
	
	Welles finally grabs a flaming can of sterno and flings it at Schaefer, 
	Schaefer knocks it away.
	
	Then Welles stands in spent exhaustion, panting. One of his hands is 
	bleeding.
	
	He looks at Schaefer. A pause. Then:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Let . . . me . . . talk to them. . .
	
	New York ... The stockholders
	
	Give me one chance. And then you will never have to see me again.
	
	INT.  _GIMBELS NEW YORK _DAY 
	
	The entire two-acre fifth floor of Gimbels is in chaos
	
	A large banner is suspended at one end of the floor; "The Hearst 
	Collection." It is the first day of the sale and it is mobbed.
	
	Hearst and Marion, alone in a crowd, walk wordlessly through the 
	mayhem.
	
	Everywhere around them hundreds of eager customers strike like hawks, 
	snatching up useless junk and treasured antiques.
	
	We see bits and pieces of San Simeon in the jumble
	
	They pass a man and his wife, holding up Marion's -BLESS THIS CASTLE" 
	sampler:
	
	                         MAN 
	          Old man Hearst owned this and I'm getting it for 
	          two bits I
	
	Hearst and Marion continue to walk, finally arriving at the section 
	containing the true, expensive treasures.
	
	Hearst watches as customers pick up and fondle his life.
	
	He glances at a framed front page of the San Francisco Examiner. The 
	date is March 4, 1887. In a large box on the page is: "IT IS THE ROLE 
	OF THE PRESS TO COMFORT THE AFFLICTED AND AFFLICT THE 
COMFORTABLE. 
	WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST. PUBLISHER."
	
	                         HEARST 
	          I can't sell this. How much are they asking?
	
	                         MARION 
	             (gently)
	          Pops ... let it go. Just ... let it go
	
	He looks at her. A long moment. He tenderly touches her face.
	
	Then: 
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Yes, I think I shall.
	
	He takes her hand and leads her away as we pull up and take in the 
	entire fifth floor.
	
	It is a stunning KANE-like image of rows and rows of merchandise piled 
	high. Of junk and jewels. Of Charles Foster Kane and William Randolph 
	Hearst.
	
	INT_HOTEL ROOM. NEW YORK_NIGHT
	
	Welles sits brooding in his hotel room. His invincible energy appears 
	gone.
	
	He is deep in thought, listlessly shuffling and reshuffling a deck of 
	cards in one hand.
	
	He aimlessly shuffles through the cards and plucks one out.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Six of spades
	
	He glances at the card. It is the nine of hearts.
	
	He shuffles through the cards again and pulls out another card.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Six of spades
	
	He looks at the card. It is the two of clubs.
	
	His attention is now fully on the cards. He shuffles them dramatically 
	and snatches out a card. He looks at it and then tosses it away. He 
	shuffles again, working the trick, again it fails. He tosses another 
	card away. He continues, ;' more quickly, to attempt the trick. It 
	fails again. And ' again.
	
	With a frightened moan Welles flings the entire deck away from him and 
	bolts out of the room...
	
	EXT_HOTEL ROOFTOP_NIGHT 
	
	Welles emerges from a stairway on the roof of his hotel.
	
	He marches to the edge of the roof and leans against a railing, gasping 
	for air.
	
	Everywhere below him the shimmering lights of Manhattan twinkle and 
	flash; cabs and neon and noise. The night sky above him is filled with 
	stars.
	
	He looks away from the city and up to the stars -- they captivate him 
	fully. He stares and stares at the impossible chaos of beautiful 
	lights.
	
	A long moment as Welles gazes at the stars. The city below and the 
	noise seem to disappear and Welles stands, safe and at peace under the 
	silent dome of stars.
	
	The stars are reflected in his huge, dark eyes
	
	Magically, the stars in his eyes give way to the vague shapes of men 
	sitting around a table.
	
	Welles looks at the men.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Today.
	
	We pull back to see we are at 
	
	INT_RKO BOARD ROOM. NEW YORK_DAY 
	
	Welles stands at the head of a long conference table. Title: APRIL 6, 
	1941
	
	Around the table are gathered a group of stern businessmen Schaefer is 
	also present.
	
	Welles looks at the men. And he speaks. For once, his usual 
	overwrought, theatrical tones are gone.
	
	He speaks simply.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Today a man from Germany invaded Greece. He has 
	          already swallowed Poland and Denmark and Norway and 
	          Belgium. He is bombing London as I speak. Everywhere 
	          this man goes he crushes the life and the freedom of 
	          his subjects. He sews yellow stars onto their 
	          lapels. He takes their voices.
	
	In this country we still have our voices. And we can sing with them. 
	And we can argue with them. 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? We have no brown shirt thugs here ruling our lives, do 
	we? No one can take our voices, can they? Because we are free.
	
	I am one voice and that is all. My picture is one voice. 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 this 
	country that one man can take away our voices?
	
	So ... who is Mr. Hearst and who is Mr. Welles? Mr. Hearst built a 
	palace of brick and mortar and starting little wars and corpses piled 
	high. I built a palace of illusion. My castle Xanadu is a matte 
	painting and camera trick. It's nothing but . . . a dream.
	
	Today you have a chance to let the dream triumph. For once.
	
	He gazes at them and then slowly walks out of the room 
	
	INT_LONG HALLWAY. NEW YORK_DAY
	
	Welles sits quietly on a bench in a long hallway in a tall building.
	
	Schaefer emerges from an office and goes to him. He sits next to him.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          We open on May 1st.
	
	Welles slowly nods.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Orson, what you said in there. Did you mean it?
	
	Welles looks at him.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Does it matter? They believed it
	
	He stands and begins walking away.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Orson.
	
	Welles stops, not turning.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Yes. It matters.
	
	Welles continues down the hall 
	
	INT_HOTEL. NEW YORK_NIGHT 
	
	Title: APRIL 30, 1941 Welles is rushing to catch an elevator as the 
	doors close
	
	He nips in at the last minute and punches his button. He turns.
	
	The elevator is deserted but for one other person: William Randolph 
	Hearst.
	
	Welles and Hearst recognize each other instantly. As the elevator 
	ascends the two men look at each other.
	
	A very long pause as we watch their faces -- the young man and the old 
	man -- both men of mad grandeur and malevolent passion and stunning 
	inspiration -- both men of incalculable achievement and measureless 
	poignancy.
	
	Finally:
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Mr. Hearst, we've met once before, my name is Orson 
	          Welles and I've got a movie opening tomorrow night 
	          at the Palace. I would be pleased to get you 
	          tickets.
	
	A pause as Hearst regards Welles.
	
	Then Hearst carefully reaches over and presses the stop button on the 
	elevator. The elevator stops.
	
	An exceedingly quiet exchange:
	
	A beat.
	
	A pause.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          I wonder. Do you have any idea what you have done?
	
	                         WELLES
	          Do you?
	
	                         HEARST 
	          Intimately. For every sin you have placed on my 
	          head I could give you a hundred others. I have been 
	          swimming in blood my entire life. But I retain a 
	          belief, perhaps you will think it old fashioned, 
	          undoubtedly you will, but I believe that private 
	          lives should not be public property.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Elegant words, sir, when you have made your name 
	          and your fortune on slander and innuendo and gossip. 
	          In your papers you taught the world how to look 
	          under every rock. I learned at the knee of the 
	          master.
	
	                         HEARST 
	          So where does that leave us, Mr. Welles? What kind 
	          of sad future are we two making? A future where men 
	          will do anything to sell their newspapers and their 
	          movies? A future where no price is too high for fame 
	          and power? When we will all scratch each other to 
	          pieces just to be heard?
	
	Can you truly envision such ... horror.
	
	Hearst presses the stop button again and the elevator begins to move.
	
	The doors opens on Hearst's floor and he leaves the elevator.
	
	The doors are about to shut on Welles when he leans forward; and roars: 
	
	
	                         WELLES 
	          CHARLES FOSTER KANE WOULD HAVE ACCEPTED I
	
	The doors shut on Welles and we remain with Hearst as he slowly walks 
	down the long hotel hallway.
	
	He walks with dignity. 
	
	EXT_PALACE THEATER. NEW YORK_NIGHT 
	
	It is the premiere of CITIZEN KANE, at last.
	
	The Palace Theater swarms with tuxedos and dress gowns as the elite of 
	New York and Hollywood descend from limousines and slowly parade into 
	the packed lobby.
	
	On the Palace marquee "ORSON WELLES" is spelled out in enormous six 
	foot tall electric letters. Below that is "CITIZEN KANE" also in 
	electric letters. Above the marquee is a series of towering, flashing 
	neon Charles Foster Kanes and the words "IT'S TERRIFIC."
	
	Title; MAY l, 1941
	
	We float down and enter the crowded lobby with the patrons...
	
	INT_PALACE THEATER. LOBBY_FOLLOWING
	
	We swirl with the throng of patrons in the lobby as they file into the 
	theater and finally find Welles and Schaefer huddled together nervously 
	in a corner of the lobby.
	
	They are studiously ignored and snubbed by all the movie people 
	filtering past.
	

	                         SCHAEFER 
	          They're cutting us dead, every goddamn one.
	
	They are ignored by a few more people
	
	Beat
	
	                         WELLES 
	          It's my birthday this week. I'll be 26.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Happy birthday.
	
	Mank fights through the crowd
	
	                         MANK 
	          Monstro! Ran into Walter Winchell outside He wants 
	          to play Herod in the picture. Hiya, George.
	
	                         SCHAEFER
	          Herman.
	
	                         MANK 
	             (lighting a cigar)
	          So ain't this just the bee's knees? The high 
	          muckey-mucks dolled up all Aztec-like for the human 
	          sacrifice.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          You gonna watch?
	
	                         MANK 
	          Hell, I know how it ends.
	             (He calls to a passing stranger)
	          Hey, Rosebud's the sled!
	
	                         WELLES
	          Mank!
	
	                         MANK 
	          Face it, Orson, they're gonna hate it. I told you, 
	          not enough closeups and too many scenes with a bunch 
	          of New York actors.
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	             (pained)
	          Oh God. . .
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Relax, George. It's gonna go great. Trust me. Have 
	          I ever lied to you?
	
	Schaefer looks at him for a moment
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          You know something, Orson, you haven't done 
	          anything but lie to me from the moment we met. But, 
	          ya know, I'd do it again in a second.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          It was fun, wasn't it?
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	             (quietly)
	          It was the best, kid
	
	                         WELLES 
	          So, on to the Life Of Christ!
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Without me. I'm afraid. I got the axe this morning.
	
	                         MANK
	          Shit
	
	                         WELLES
	          George...
	
	                         SCHAEFER 
	          Forget it. Cause you know something..
	
	When I'm an old coot playing dominoes down in Miami Beach fifty years 
	from now, I'll say, "Hey, you kids ever heard of a guy named Randolph 
	Hearst?" And they'll say, "Nope. Never heard of him." And then I'll 
	say, "Hey, you ever heard of a picture called CITIZEN KANE?"  And they 
	will have. That's enough for me.
	
	Pats Welles arm and goes into the theater
	
	                         WELLES 
	             (softly)
	          What have I done?
	
	                         MANK 
	          Aw, cheer up, George'll probably be running Fox by 
	          the morning. Let's get a drink.
	
	Mank pulls at Welles' arm.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          But the picture...
	
	Mank stops and looks at him deeply.
	
	                         MANK 
	             (quietly)
	          Kid, you know how it ends too. It ends sadly.
	
	He pulls Welles away from the theater and down the street. 
	
	INT. PALACE THEATER - NIGHT
	
	We watch the faces
	
	In the flickering blue light we watch the audience as we hear Bernard 
	Hermann's evocative and haunting opening music to CITIZEN KANE.
	
	We slowly move across a sea of faces as the music plays. For everyone, 
	especially the movie people, what they are seeing is a revelation and a 
	revolution. It is a whole new way of seeing the world.
	
	We see their amazement as they are mesmerized -- and their confusion as 
	they are challenged.
	
	And we see George Schaefer, quietly proud.
	
	Bernard Hermann's opening music continues to play until we finally 
	hear;
	
	                         "KANE" 
	          "Rosebud...
	
	And the world of movies is forever changed 
	
	INT   DESERTED BAR. NEW YORK  NIGHT 
	
	Welles and Mank are sitting in a rundown, deserted bar
	
	                         WELLES 
	          You know, all this nightmare we went through with 
	          Hearst. The whole thing... And in the end, probably 
	          no one will ever remember the picture anyway.
	
	                         MANK 
	          Yeah, you're probably right.
	
	A beat. Mank takes a drink.
	
	                         MANK 
	          I'll tell ya something, kid. When you make your 
	          masterpiece at 26 it's a bitch. I mean. where do you 
	          go from here?
	
	A long pause
	
	Then Welles speaks, softly.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Will burn. Burn up. Burn out.  But oh, what a flame
	
	He looks at Mank and toasts.
	
	                         WELLES 
	          Cheers.
	
	And Orson Welles smiles. Indomitable.
	
	THE END.