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Commentaries by Roger Ebert and Peter Bogdanovich. There was some concern when the first press releases about the Ulimate Collectors Edition of Citizen Kane came out and the Ebert commentary wasn't included, but the good news is, it's here. Both of these commentaries are quite good, though Bogdanovich's can come off as a bit too self-congratulatory at times, given his long personal relationship with Welles. To be fair, though, Bogdanovich does impart an incredible amount of background information as well as technical detail. Ebert's commentary is more nuts and bolts, giving some great background, especially with regard to Toland's contributions. The Opening: World Premiere of Citizen Kane (SD; 1:08) is a brief snippet of a newsreel of the New York premiere at the Palace Theater on May 1, 1941. Interviews (SD; 8:44) with Ruth Warrick and Robert Wise are very interesting, part of the Turner Archival Project and coming from 1997 and 1994 respectively. Production (SD; 15:01) is subdivided into Storyboards, Call Sheets and Still Photography (with Commentary by Roger Ebert). Post Production (SD; 5:12) is subdivided into Deleted Scenes (no actual footage, just stills), Ad Campaign, Press Book and Opening Night. Theatrical Trailer (SD; 3:46) is as revolutionary in its own way as the film itself. The Battle Over Citizen Kane (1.33:1; 1:53:32) is the incredibly well done Oscar nominated documentary which aired as part of the American Experience series on PBS. This fascinating piece gives a huge amount of background information on both Welles and Hearst and shows how they were (as ironic as it may seem) peas in a pod. While Welles scholars have criticized this piece for making too much of the similarities between Welles and Hearst, it can't be denied that the two were self-absorbed pigheaded fools at times, something that actually led to detrimental results for both them, both within the context of the release of Citizen Kane, and beyond. That said, it certainly can't be argued that Welles was obviously way left of center politically and Hearst was just as obviously his polar opposite. Filled with enormous amounts of archival footage and stills, as well as copious interviews, The Battle Over Citizen Kane is documentary filmmaking at its finest, a compelling and unforgettable story told with a minimum of fuss and bother, and a lot of intriguing detail. RKO 281 (1.78:1; 1:26:47) is a well done HBO telefilm which is based in part on The Battle Over Citizen Kane. RKO 281 was the original in-house production number for Citizen Kane. Liev Schreiber does a good job as Welles and James Cromwell is excellent as William Randolph Hearst, though the film takes more than a few liberties with each man's life and it includes a fanciful one on one meeting between the two. Quite a bit of production information is imparted as the movie takes a look at the often revolutionary filming techniques Welles employed to achieve his vision. Melanie Griffith is not especially well cast as Marion Davies (and that bright red lipstick she wears seems to be oddly smeared across her face), but Roy Scheider makes an oddly compelling RKO chief George Schaefer. Note how director Benjamin Ross repeatedly apes Welles' own Kane approach, with an early newsreel sequence and lots of low angle shots revealing ceilings. |
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