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starring: Liev Schreiber, James Cromwell, Melanie Griffith, John Malkovich, Brenda Blethyndirected by: Benjamin Ross
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780783114590
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
ISBN: 0783114591
Label: Hbo Home Video
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Hbo Home Video
Release Date: March 13, 2001
Running Time: 87 minutes
Sales Rank: 42418
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: November 20, 1999
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
This absorbing HBO docudrama tells the story of the making of what is considered by many to be America's greatest film, Citizen Kane. 'Boy genius' Orson Welles came to Hollywood with no idea how to follow up his stage and radio success in the movie business. A dinner invitation to publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst's castle, San Simeon, inspired him to use Hearst's story as the basis for his brilliant film debut: a scathing allegory about the absolute corruptibility of power. RKO 281 demonstrates Welles's famously obsessive attention to artistic detail, which made his first movie such a masterpiece. But the film almost never made it to the screen--Hearst used his entire empire to try to destroy it. Two of the most mammoth egos in entertainment history--Hearst and Welles--were pitted against one another in the battle over Citizen Kane. Liev Schreiber has the close-to-impossible task of playing Orson Welles. He may not have Welles's monumental presence (who does?) but he does a credible job. John Malkovich turns in a powerful, understated performance as Welles's long-suffering sidekick Herman Mankiewicz, James Cromwell makes a first-rate Hearst, and Melanie Griffith is warmly sympathetic as Hearst's mistress, Marion Davies. The docudrama imparts some marvelously juicy insider lore, such as the real meaning behind the famous dying dispatch in the history of movies: 'Rosebud.' --Laura Mirsky
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - HBO's RKO 281: The Battle Over CITIZEN KANE - a MUST for Any Film Buff!
This sumptuously produced made-for-TV movie concerning the epic battle between 26-year-old boy wonder Orson Welles and newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst over CITIZEN KANE is totally enthralling from the opening scene to final fadeout. Hearst was highly annoyed with Welles' first movie (working title: RKO 281) because its newspaper publisher character bore a too-close-for-comfort resemblance to himself. As a result the aging publishing magnate would go to any extreme to shut the movie ... Read More
Rating: - RKO 281
I found this DVD entertaining, giving the behind-the-scenes look at the making of Kane. I'm a big fan of Welles and Liev Schreiber's performance of Orson was top-notch. Those of you that like story of the Battle over Citizen Kane with Orson Welles and William Randolf Hearst, this is for you. It gives a sense of how motion pictures were made in that era. I found the film to be very inspirational.
Rating: - The Battle over Citizen Kane
"RKO 281" is a made-for-HBO movie on the process of making Citizen Kane, called by The American Film Institute, the greatest film ever made.
The movie is not a biopic on it's creator Orson Welles, in the same way
Walk the Line wasn't a biopic on Johnny Cash. It's a film that details a pivotal event in that persons life. We get some glimpes of Welles childhood, but this movie is about making Citizen Kane. The title of the film, which I don't like at all, refers to what Citizen Kane was ... Read More
Rating: - Excellent Historical Drama
Seven years ago, I visited the Hurst Castle in San Simian, CA and was astonished by the grandure, size, and scope of the lavish lifestyle led by William Randolph Hurst. After visiting this palace, I wondered if there ever would be a great movie that was made about this larger-than-life icon. I also read some about the controversy that surrounded Hurst later in his life when Orson Welles made his debut in Hollywood with CITIZEN KANE. Director Benjamin Ross and Producers Ridley and Tony Scott ... Read More
Rating: - An edible version of historical events
I have to disagree with those who look at this as an historical narrative. This is a great story of a man fighting against a system that treated its employees as slaves. Actors, directors and writers were loaned and traded at the whim of the powerful studio bosses at the time of Kane. This shows the will of one brash, arrogant, young man who dared to stand up to that power and fight for the film he thought should be made.
This may not be historically 100% accurate, but it doesn't need to be. ... Read More
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