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RKO 281 (TV 1999)

TV Movie  -   -  Biography | Drama  -  20 November 1999 (USA)
7.0
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Ratings: 7.0/10 from 4,118 users  
Reviews: 44 user | 29 critic

Orson Welles produces his greatest film, Citizen Kane, despite the opposition of the film's de facto subject, William Randolph Hearst.

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, (documentary "The Battle Over Citizen Kane"), 1 more credit »
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Title: RKO 281 (TV 1999)

RKO 281 (TV 1999) on IMDb 7/10

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Won 2 Golden Globes. Another 7 wins & 15 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

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George Schaefer
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Anastasia Hille ...
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Simeon Andrews ...
William Armstrong ...
Mr. Lewis
Jay Benedict ...
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Storyline

Coming to Hollywood as a celebrated boy genius featuring a spectacular career arc in New York including his "War of the Worlds" radio hoax, Orson Welles is stymied on the subject for his first film. After a dinner party at Hearst Castle, during which he has a verbal altercation with Hearst, Welles decides to do a movie about Hearst. It takes him some time to convince co-writer Herman Mankiewicz and the studio, but Welles eventually gets the script and the green light, keeping the subject very hush-hush with the press. When a rough cut is screened, Hearst gets wind of the movie's theme and begins a campaign to see that it is not only never publicly screened, but destroyed. Written by Greg Bulmash <greg@imdb.com>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Genres:

Biography | Drama

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some graphic sexual images | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

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Release Date:

20 November 1999 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

RKO 281: The Battle Over Citizen Kane  »

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Aspect Ratio:

16:9
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The title refers to the production number given by RKO to Citzen Kane. See more »

Goofs

When Welles is shown crossing out dialogue in the "Citizen Kane" script, he is actually marking up pages from the "RKO 281" script! See more »

Quotes

Orson Welles: I expected better of you, Mank.
Herman J. 'Mank' Mankiewicz: Me too, but I got used to it.
See more »

Connections

Featured in The 57th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2000) See more »

Soundtracks

"I'm Getting Sentimental Over You"
Written by George Bassman and Ned Washington
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User Reviews

 
Fresh look of Citizen Kane
30 May 2000 | by (Toronto, Canada) – See all my reviews

Near perfect movie about the making of CITIZEN KANE does not succeed 100% on document accuracy but for a movie, this is really good! Liev Shreiber plays surprisingly good for Orson although it is hard to detach him from the SCREAM trilogy. If you loved the masterpiece of CITIZEN KANE than maybe the movie is not meant for you. A surprise that this movie would not make it to the larger screen, probably because the target audience is too narrow. Anyone under 18 and/or has not watched the classic may need some guidance as to what the characters are actually saying. If you want a further look into CITIZEN KANE, this is your best bet unless you like the library!


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