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--
MAN