RKO 281 Poster

RKO 281 (TV 1999)

R  83 min  -  Biography | Drama
7.1
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Orson Welles produces his greatest film, Citizen Kane, despite the opposition of the film's de facto subject, William Randolph Hearst.

Director:

Benjamin Ross

Writers:

John Logan, Richard Ben Cramer (documentary "The Battle Over Citizen Kane") (in part), and 1 more credit »
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  Mon. Jan. 30   Time Zone:
 

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Liev Schreiber ...
James Cromwell ...
Melanie Griffith ...
John Malkovich ...
Brenda Blethyn ...
Roy Scheider ...
George Schaefer
Liam Cunningham ...
David Suchet ...
Fiona Shaw ...
Anastasia Hille Anastasia Hille ...
Roger Allam ...
Simeon Andrews Simeon Andrews ...
William Armstrong William Armstrong ...
Mr. Lewis
Jay Benedict Jay Benedict ...
Ron Berglas ...
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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:

View content advisory »
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Details

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

(USA) See more »

Also Known As:

RKO 281: The Battle Over Citizen Kane See more »

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)
See more »

Company Credits

Show detailed company contact information on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White  | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See full technical specs »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

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

Goofs

Factual errors: During a meeting of the "big studio heads," which probably never happened in the first place, one of the participants is Walt Disney, and special attention is paid to him at one point. Were a meeting like that to have taken place, Disney would certainly have not been invited because he was, at the time, considered a small independent producer, not a major studio leader. Furthermore, his distributor in the 1940's was RKO, so he would not have been in a meeting called to denounce that very studio. See more »

Quotes

Marion: Did you need any of them?
William Randolph Hearst: I wanted them.
Marion: And there is the difference between want and need.
See more »

Connections

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

Soundtracks

"Chattanooga Choo Choo"
Written by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon See more »