Citizen Kane

In Our Time: Culture

BBC

History

4.6 • 978 Ratings

🗓️ 12 January 2023

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Orson Welles' film, released in 1941, which is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, films yet made. Welles plays the lead role of Charles Foster Kane, a newspaper magnate, and Welles directed, produced and co-wrote this story of loneliness at the heart of a megalomaniac. The plot was partly inspired by the life of William Randolph Hearst, who then used the power of his own newspapers to try to suppress the film’s release. It was to take some years before Citizen Kane reached a fuller audience and, from that point, become so celebrated.

The image above is of Kane addressing a public meeting while running for Governor.

With

Stella Bruzzi Professor of Film and Dean of Arts and Humanities at University College London

Ian Christie Professor of Film and Media History at Birkbeck, University of London

And

John David Rhodes Professor of Film Studies and Visual Culture at the University of Cambridge

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Transcript

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0:48.7	program. Hello Citizen Kane released in 1941 is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest, if not the greatest,
0:56.1	film ever made.
0:58.1	Orson Wells plays the lead role of Charles Foster Kane, a newspaper magnate, and was directed, produced and co-wrote this story of
1:06.0	loneliness and megalomania.
1:08.7	It was inspired by the life of the mighty William Randolph Hearst to use the power of his own newspapers to try to suppress the film's release
1:16.0	and it was to take some years before Citizen Kane became the sensation it remains.
1:21.0	Will we discuss Citizen Kane, Estelle Brutsci, Professor of Film and Dean of Arts and
1:25.2	Humanities at University College London.
1:27.9	Ian Christie, Professor of Film and Media History at Birkbeck University of London, John David Rhodes Professor of Film Studies and
1:35.0	Visual Culture at the University of Cambridge. J.D. Rhodes.
	...

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