Lot 55: Superb W. R. Hearst Draft about "Citizen Kane"

Description

HEARST, WILLIAM RANDOLPH. (1863-1951). American newspaper magnate and the subject of what many consider America’s greatest motion picture, Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane. AL. (Unsigned). 5¼pp. 8vo. N.p., N.d. An exceedingly rare and revealing draft of a letter about Citizen Kane.

“My dear Sir, I do not think your questions are impertinent. I see no reason why they should not be asked and answered – briefly. First I have not seen Citizen Kane. I do not know what the picture is about. I did not read the book it is supposed to have been taken from. I do not read critical or flattering books about myself. Both are generally wrong. I have not ordered that the name of Orson Welles name be omitted from my newspapers. – nor is it omitted. [Next word struck through] Apparently I have seen it there recently. Apparently you do not read my papers – which is your privilege. I do not think ‘the majority of movie-goers have enjoyed the picture’ I do not think the [Next word struck through] many majority have seen it. [Next section struck through, ending with “small”] Variety called the picture a flop. Most of the reviews are unfavorable and I am told the attendance…small The public does not seem to be interested in your humble servant. I do not see why they should be. In fact I do not see why Mr. Welles should be. [Next five words struck through] However some of my friends Nor do I see why I should be. I left the treatment of the picture entirely in the hands of my friends. That in such cases is always the best thing to do. I remember the case of Harry Rapf a very fine and very popular gentleman in Hollywood. Somebody at a stage benefit made some humorous remarks about Mr. Rapf. The audience was cold and the comedian felt that he had made a mistake. After the performance he said to Mr. Rapf, ‘I would like to apologize I did not mean to offend you.’ ‘Don’t apologize to me” said Mr. Rapf. ‘I am not offended. Maybe however you should apologize to my friends.’ Perhaps my dear sir I had friends who did not like the picture [Next 14 words struck through] and their unfavorable expressions were responsible for the belief that I did not like Perhaps they criticized it or [Next word struck through] staid stayed away from it. [Next seven words struck through] Or perhaps the picture was just dull Somebody did. Perhaps the public preferred to consider me as an ‘austere person’ - which God forbid that I should be instead of the ‘human’ person I earnestly strive to be. I really do not know and cannot say. I have answered your questions to the best of my ability and I thank you for your kindly inquiries, Sincerely”

The son of a self-made millionaire, Hearst took over the San Francisco Examiner in 1887 after his father obtained the newspaper as payment for a debt. Inspired by the journalism of Joseph Pulitzer, Hearst rapidly built his expanding newspaper empire into one of the leading voices of the day, employing writers Ambrose Bierce, Samuel Clemens, Stephen Crane, and Jack London to fill its pages. Through his high-profile publications, which included the Chicago Examiner, the Daily Mirror, the Boston American, and Harper’s Bazaar, Hearst promoted such an aggressive foreign policy that his papers’ biased reporting whipped up national sentiment in favor of a war with Spain in 1898. He subsequently held a seat in the House of Representatives, unsuccessfully sought a presidential nomination and ran for the offices of New York City mayor and New York governor.

Despite his power, wealth and influence, Hearst is perhaps best remembered as the inspiration for Orson Welles’ (1915-1985) 1941 masterpiece Citizen Kane, a movie Hearst unsuccessfully attempted to destroy before its release and which is still considered the apex of American cinematic artistry. Citizen Kane was co-written, directed, produced by, and starred Welles, who had been propelled to stardom after his 1938 Mercury Radio production of The War of the Worlds. Almost unheard of at the time, RKO Pictures gave him total creative license in 1939 for the production of Citizen Kane, which he co-wrote with Herman Mankiewicz, who knew Hearst personally and detested him. The film tells, through a series of flashbacks, the story of a fictional newspaper publisher who Welles and Mankiewicz insisted was an amalgam of several prominent businessmen. Like Hearst, however, the eponymous character Kane practices yellow journalism during the Spanish-American War, runs for governor of New York, and dominates the theater career of his second wife for whom he built his mansion, Xanadu, clearly an analog of Hearst Castle. It was the film’s fictional depiction of Hearst’s mistress Marion Davies to which Hearst is purported to have most objected.

Although the film received favorable advanced reviews, influential Hearst gossip columnist and movie critic Louella Parsons attacked the film, demanding a private screening for Hearst’s lawyers after which she threatened to sue RKO. On January 11, 1941, Daily Variety reported “Hearst Bans RKO from Papers,” likely prompting the questions Hearst is responding to in our letter.

Hearst’s involvement was, however, greater than what he states in our letter. According to Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker's Journey by Harlan Lebo, “‘It’s typically been assumed that Hearst probably didn’t know about it and it was probably just his lackeys trying to protect the boss. But it’s clear he knew about it the entire time,’” (“How William Randolph Hearst tried to bring down Citizen Kane: New book reveals scale of plot to destroy Orson Welles’ film using extortion and communism,” The Daily Mail, Newton). Hearst, for example, tried to discredit Welles by planting an underage girl and photographers in his hotel room and also attempted to link him to communism.

After Welles’ denial that the film was about Hearst forestalled litigation, it opened at RKO’s Radio City Music Hall. Parsons continued her attempts to suppress the film and, despite RKO’s historical promotional campaign, attendance was disappointing, no doubt due in part to Hearst banning advertisements for Citizen Kane from his newspapers and numerous theater chains declining to show it fearing Hearst’s reprisals. Despite its failure as a commercial success, Citizen Kane won the 1941 Academy Award for Best Writing and is widely cited as one of the best films of all time.

Our letter mentions producer and MGM executive Harry Rapf (1882-1949) known for his work on the films Brown of Harvard, Scene of the Crime and How to Sleep as well as his loyalty to studio head Louis B. Mayer.

Written on yellow paper in pencil. Bearing a small strip of magic tape and the stamped file number “638” on each page. In very good condition. Remarkable with this desirable content and the only letter we have ever seen by Hearst about Citizen Kane. In 2015, for the first time, Citizen Kane was shown in Hearst’s private screening room in San Simeon – no members of the Hearst family attended.