Cinema: Citizen Welles Raises Kane

Lolly Parsons nearly fell out of her chair. On the preview screen before her, Orson Welles, the bearded boy, was playing Citizen Kane, a corrupt newspaper publisher, in a way that reminded Cinecolumnist Parsons irresistibly of her boss—William Randolph Hearst. The seed of suspicion had been deftly implanted in the Parsons mind a week before. She had not been included among Hollywood's journalistic elite (her rival Hedda Hopper, Timesman Douglas Churchill, Look's Jim Crow) who saw the initial preview of R. K. O.'s & Orson Welles's Citizen Kane. Now, at her own insistence,...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!