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Citizen Kane (1941) routinely tops the polls as the greatest film ever made. The still above may well be one of the most copied in film history. In the myth of Citizen Kane, the 25-year-old Orson Welles is celebrated as a boy genius who in his first time as a director revolutionized the use of the camera and as an actor played a role the required him to age through a lifetime.
Rather than a work of one man, Kane is in fact the greatest collaboration in film history for it brought together a team led by cinematographer Gregg Toland, who had as much or more to do with the film’s appearance as Welles, and screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, whose brilliant script made “Rosebud” a household word. Welles’ acting is either brilliant or over-the-top depending on your perspective. The scene where he demolishes an entire room when his wife leaves him is one of the most terrifying displays of anger ever caught on film.
Last week we ran the film version of Abraham Lincoln’s debate with Stephen Douglas, so it seems appropriate to follow that with a campaign speech from the greatest movie ever made. The character of Kane is modeled after newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst. Hearst created a publishing empire that at one time consisted of so many newspapers that one in four Americans got their news from Hearst. This media concentration gave him incredible power, which he did not hesitate to use. Hearst himself actually was elected to the House in 1902 and ran for governor of New York in 1906. One of the great what-ifs in American history is what might have happened had Hearst won. It is not hard to imagine Hearst doing what two of his successors would do–run for President.
In the film, Kane also runs for governor. His opponent is the corrupt Jim Gettys who is given the nickname boss for melodramatic impact. As you read the speech, you will note one very unusual word–”liberal.” In the movie Kane is introduced as “the fighting liberal” not only with no apologies but as if the phrase was the greatest thing someone could say about a politician.
Can you imagine that happening today? That none of today’s candidates would embrace the description or even the platform Kane espouses tells how much this nation has lost. In some ways the plot of the film is a metaphor for the fate of Liberal America, for Kane would lose to the corrupt Getty’s who traps Kane with his mistress. Liberal America would not lose so melodramatically, but it does not take much to substitute Bill Clinton for Kane and Monica Lewinsky for the mistress.
We have to remember that Franklin Roosevelt was in his third term in the White House when this film was released. In fact you might notice some similarities between Kane’s speech and Roosevelt’s “Forgotten Man” speech. Here is Kane’s speech attacking Gettys:
Campaigner: There is only one man who can rid the politics of this State of the evil domination of Boss Jim Gettys. I am speaking of Charles Foster Kane, the fighting liberal, the friend of the working man, the next Governor of this State, who entered upon this campaign –
Kane: with one purpose only: to point out and make public the dishonesty, the downright villainy, of Boss Jim W. Gettys’ political machine — now in complete control of the government of this State! I made no campaign promises, because until a few weeks ago I had no hope of being elected.
Now, however, I have something more than a hope. And Jim Gettys — Jim Gettys has something less than a chance. Every straw vote, every independent poll shows that I’ll be elected. Now I can afford to make some promises!
The working man — The working man and the slum child know they can expect my best efforts in their interests. The decent, ordinary citizens know that I’ll do everything in my power to protect the underprivileged, the underpaid, and the underfed!
Well, I’d make my promises now if I weren’t too busy arranging to keep them.
Here’s one promise I’ll make, and boss Jim Gettys knows I’ll keep it: My first official act as Governor of this State will be to appoint a Special District Attorney to arrange for the indictment, prosecution, and conviction of Boss Jim W. Gettys!
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