RKO 281

In 1999, HBO aired RKO 281, directed by Benjamin Ross, written by John Logan, based on the documentary The Battle Over Citizen Kane, and starring Liev Schreiber, James Cromwell, Melanie Griffith, John Malkovich, and Roy Scheider. This is a short made for HBO movie that will stand the test of time, just like Kane has.

HBO has really always made good original shows and movies. They are more known at this time for shows like Deadwood, Oz, Carnivale, and other gritty shows that are too hot for regular cable. Occasionally they are known for making movies that are great pieces of work. RKO 281 is one of these. It is the story of how Citizen Kane was created, from idea to filming to the controversy, as well as the backlash it created when released. It is also surprisingly accurate for what it shows. The acting is quite good. Schreiber as the pretentious Orson Welles is great. Just like the real Welles, we are left feeling betrayed by him: should we be grateful or angry at him? Should we like him or loathe him? He uses people to get what he wants, but in the end, he gets his movie made. But at what cost? Hearst (playing by Cromwell) offers one warning at the end: "My time on this earth is almost over. It's not my life you are sabotaging; it's yours." Doubtful that those words were actually said, much less that meeting in the elevator, but it is a nice end since Welles never was able to come close to topping his masterpiece.

The only bad thing I can say about this movie is that it is too short for what all really happened. There were court battles and there were lots of hostility and none of it was shown. However, this movie is very tightly written. There is nothing in it that doesn't add to the movie's story. There is either character development, plot development, or borderline documentary recreations of the making of Kane, which only reinforces either plot or character development.

I'm resisting going into detail about the plot because I have a future posting planned that will detail the making of Citizen Kane, which is just as amazing a story as the movie itself. The documentary (from which this movie was adapted from) is one of the best documentaries ever made. As I said earlier the performances are great: Schreiber as Welles and Cromwell as Hearst are unforgettable. But the one that always gets me is Malkovich as Herman Mankiewicz; what a great role and great performance. Griffith as Marion Davies was good as was Scheider as George Schaefer. The best moment for me that developed a character was Louis B. Mayer (as in Metro Goldwyn MAYER) at the beginning eating a sandwich and talking at the same time about having Welles literally fail at making a War of the Worlds movie, which will fail but earn them some more money, but kill Welles's career. That moment told me that Mayer was a fat cat, as were all the studio heads (which you get to see them all in one room at one point, including Disney, Selznick, Zanuck, etc.) who were only after making a quick buck then moving on.

My recommendation is to watch this movie. If you watch Kane first, then you will see details in a different way (such as the confrontation between a drunk Jedediah and Kane). If you watch this first, you will appreciate Kane a little more. It's definitely a love triangle: Citizen Kane, the documentary Battle Over Citizen Kane, and RKO 281. And in case you're wondering what the title of this movie means, RKO is the production company and it was production #281. This was industry code for Citizen Kane.

Here is a link to the trailer:
http://www.reelzchannel.com/trailer-clips/25372/rko-281-trailer