The Making of Citizen Kane, Revised edition / Edition 1

by Robert L. Carringer

Overview

Citizen Kane, widely considered the greatest film ever made, continues to fascinate critics and historians as well as filmgoers. While credit for its genius has traditionally been attributed solely to its director, Orson Welles, Carringer's pioneering study documents the shared creative achievements of Welles and his principal collaborators. The Making of Citizen Kane, copiously illustrated with rare photographs and production documents, also provides an in-depth view of the operations of the Hollywood studio system. This new edition includes a revised preface and overview of criticism, an updated chronology of the film's reception history, a reconsideration of the locus of responsibility of Welles's ill-fated The Magnificent Ambersons, and new photographs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520205673
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	10/24/1996
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	185
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Robert L. Carringer is Professor of English and Film at the University of Illinois, at Urbana-Champaign. He is also the author of The Magnificent Ambersons: A Reconstruction (California, 1993).

Table of Contents

Preface 
A Word on Sources 
Acknowledgments 
1. Heart of Darkness 
2. Scripting 
3. Art Direction 
4. Cinematography 
5. Postproduction and Release 
6. Collaboration and The Magnificent Ambersons 
Appendix: Outtakes 
Production Credits 
Notes 
Bibliography 
Index 

Editorial Reviews

"A meticulous technical study . . . not only reminds us of why we want to read about Welles in the first place, but comes closer to the core of the man than [biographies of Welles]."

Village Voice

"Carringer has had access to previously inaccessible studio records, resulting in an unprecedentedly documented account of the collaborative creation of Kane; Carringer has also interviewed numerous participants in the film's making, including Welles himself. The result is not only new knowledge about Kane, but a new understanding about how films were made in the studio system."

Film Quarterly

It seems that the moviegoing public just can't get enough of Orson Welles and Charlie Kane (see Video Reviews, this issue, p. 98). Carringer's 1985 volume offers and a nuts-and-bolts description of Kane's production. This revised and updated edition has been enlarged to include a new preface, new photos, and a discussion of Welles's second feature, The Magnificent Ambersons. Though volumes on Orson and Kane abound, this "is well researched and generally well written" (LJ 7/85). Considering Kane's importance to American film, this is essential for all movie collections. If you're talking movies, you're talking Kane.

Library Journal