Orson Welles’ 1941 classic, “Citizen Kane,” is regarded by many as one of the greatest films of all time. It’s also considered one of the most influential films. It’s still talked about to this day and has impacted filmmakers including Martin Scorsese and David Fincher. Fincher directed “Mank,” which tells the story of Herman J. Mankiewicz and how he developed the script for Welles.
“Mank” producer Douglas Urbanski attended the Variety 120 Screening Series presented by Barco, a summer-long program hosted by Jazz Tangcay that celebrates Variety‘s 120th anniversary by showing iconic films such as “All About Eve” and “Psycho.”
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Urbanksi, who first saw “Citizen Kane” during his days at New York University, discussed the film’s lasting impact and explained that a lot of it has to do with the stories and mystique surrounding the film.
He said, “’Citizen Kane’ has everything that’s not on the screen that lends to its mystique. It has the clash of ego, and of course, it has the famous and untrue story that Pauline Kael wrote about and that we made a movie about.”
As chronicled by Variety, “Citizen Kane” was surrounded by off-camera struggles, including multiple threats of lawsuits and a smear campaign against Welles.
Urbanski shared some of his anecdotes, including a story about Welles, the unmade movie “Heart of Darkness,” and how Chasen’s, once the hottest dining spot in Los Angeles, serves as a “central figure in this movie.”
Leaning into that, Urbanski told Tangcay that RKO Studios had given Welles the green light to make whatever he wanted. Welles had decided that he was going to adapt the Joseph Conrad novella. Welles did screen tests and brought in actors, and invited them to dinner at Chasen’s. “He sat them down at dinner in the private dining room upstairs in the back of Chasen’s and told them, there’s a change of plan. RKO thinks we’re making ‘Heart of Darkness,’ but I’ve got another movie we’re going to make. He had really been lusting after this idea of the American Dream. He was writing it and hitting walls. And John Houseman, who is a huge figure behind the scenes of all of this, got into a huge fight in front of the actors over this dinner upstairs. The fight was so bad, and Orson Welles took a lit candelabra and threw it at John Houseman, and the curtains caught on fire.”
Urbanski went on to explain that Houseman, who was Welles’ producing partner, left.
Later, Welles would admit he had hit a block with the script and admitted that to Houseman. “There’s only one many who can write it, and that’s Herman Mankiewicz. Houseman essentially says, ‘You know, he’s unmanageable. You know, he is a drunk. You know, he is unreliable. Yes, he’s the best.’”
Among the mysteries surrounding the film is who wrote “Citizen Kane”? Was it Welles or was it Mankiewicz? Countless columns and books surround that question. “Mank” also revolves around that topic.
Vanity’s Owen Gleiberman even addresses it in a column titled, “Who Wrote ‘Citizen Kane’? It’s a Mystery Even if You Know the Answer.”
Urbanksi explained that when it came to approving the film’s title cards, the director saw that it said screenplay by Orson Welles and Herman Mankiewicz. “Orson has a red crayon, and he takes it and he draws an arrow to put Herman’s name above his.” He continued, “That was really what happened. The story grew.”
Watch the video above.
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