Orson Welles on Citizen Kane

Orson Welles discusses Citizen Kane with Huw Wheldon in a 13 March 1960 edition of the BBC's pioneering arts programme Monitor, presented and edited by Wheldon from 1958-1965.
Wheldon and Welles knew each other well and had worked together previously for the BBC on Orson Welles's Sketch Book (1955), which Wheldon produced.
In this insightful interview, Welles speaks candidly about Citizen Kane, the film's visual style and use of theatre actors as well as its subtext before discussing his relationship with Hollywood and the cuts made to The Magnificent Ambersons and Touch of Evil against his wishes.
This video attempts to present in sequence as much of the available footage from this interview as possible. The video is indebted to the excellent work and superb channels of Bazarov / channel and Eyes on Cinema / @eyesoncinema both devoted to film culture.
The two earlier uploads of the interview, published on 4 June 2014 and 3 April 2015 respectively, can be seen at: • Video and • Orson Welles talks abo...

[@JensHove]

What a remarkable man. Making a masterpiece like Kane at 25, is almost unfathomable.

[@laurihuuskonen2719]

I could listen to him for days...

[@richardsiciliano7117]

The world was in a better place simply for Orson Welles being a part of it.

[@RSR423]

The great man himself, the world lost a rare breed when Orson passed, and boy is he missed.

[@michaeltomolonis3450]

Not a wasted word. Incredibly decisive language and intention. Hold on to your seat and listen well. This guy is something else.

[@pillettadoinswartsh4974]

This is also fun: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZ6wkmZueL92ibc

[@jamesanthony5681]

Agreed.

[@carolecksit2947]

The Mayflower Man

[@georgeschaut2178]

This is one of the few youtube videos where I've had to constantly rewind sections to get the gist of it. Fascinating insights...particularly of the "palace intrigue" going on at RKO. I had thought that attempts to sabotage the film were only coming from Hearst himself. So glad that the picture was made, released, & restored. George, Canada

[@garrison968]

Absolutely fascinating interview.

[@rampageclover9788]

Beautiful man

[@RoosterFloyd]

It's insane to imagine anyone would want to take creative control from Orson. Even at the time of it's screening Citizen Kane was considered a masterpiece. Yet his other pictures were cut and edited without his knowledge or permission. I can't imagine myself, for any sum of money, tampering with his work. Having the gall to think I know better than the man who created it.

[@melissabillingsley8866]

I’ve been through the 🔥 I didn’t ask for it but now I’m the ignition! Wahhhhhhhh 😛

[@ernesto5917]

what were the obvious things about hollywood he hated?

[@TMNigel]

Fascism.

[@jakealhalabi8194]

idk ? The fact that after Kane his films were highly edited by the studios

[@spewgilist]

Hypocrisy

[@jamesanthony5681]

The business side of Hollywood. Welles said often in the '70's that he hated the 'deal making,' the amount of time and energy that went into just getting an agreement on anything.

[@PlayNiceFolks]

He was the Kevin Smith of his time...by that, I mean he was fat and did movie stuff.. whatever. Deification of him is ducking stupid, I like the part where...insert rude things about him being a fat drunk doing funny commerical outtakes.

[@codymx29]

I've watched this more times than I care to admit. I have finally found out what is so enthralling about Welles' speaking here. He is proper, class, and charming, but he is also genuine, direct, and honest. This is a rare combo.

[@Mark-ls8ov]

Did you write this with one hand?

[@aliofly]

@@Mark-ls8ovno need for such vulgarity

[@robotnik77]

What an amazing interview; and Welles - what a brilliant man. Everything he says is weighed and measured in proper amounts, but very smooth, as though he needn't to think about what he said. It just flows as a brook. He holds your attention like a magnet. The process is one. A true genius.

[@TheSnowmanBKK]

Your spot on. Where can we see this quality of interviewing and guest today ? Pure class.

[@Elitist20]

My mum saw him onstage in London as Othello in 1951 - she said he was spellbinding.

[@willpeony5534]

She was telling a little lie, Orson Welles is a white man and that could never, ever have happened.

[@thorn262]

@@willpeony5534 And, so was William Shakespeare.

[@blackcat7919]

@@willpeony5534 Orson Welles also played the part on film. Othello (also known as The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice) is a 1951 film directed and produced by Welles, who also played the title role. Great film. You should do some research on the play and who has played the part.

[@willpeony5534]

@@blackcat7919 Just my little joke on modern political correctness. Also Charlton Heston played a Mexican in a movie directed by Welles.

[@CaminoAir]

@@willpeony5534 That's the unfortunate thing about text comments. It's impossible to guess the tone of the comment, if the comment is written in a 'tongue in cheek' style.

[@rollingstopp]

They were afraid of him. like fearing fire..

[@elizabethy3909]

I didn't think it possible, but I even more detest modern day "celebrities" after viewing this remarkable interview.

[@HC-cb4yp]

I have to believe there are still Americans who are this smart, it's just that they have NO forum through which to express themselves. Even this was a British show.

[@guyr3618]

This guy talks in interviews like he's performing in a theater.

[@shanke300]

One in a million. 25 years old? Made Citizen Kane? Genius. Absolutely marvellous man.

[@chickenflavor9880]

One in a billion

[@filmnewsreport3231]

That voice is just legendary

[@DonnaLang42rockglobally]

Just think - if not for Orson Welles crafting "Citizen Kane" we might not have ever heard of Agnes Moorehead or Joseph Cotten, both Mercury Theatre alumni who went on to have noteworthy careers in film and/or television. He touched visual media so much and in so many ways.

[@Parsifal1107]

This shows what an intelligent man he was.

[@johngraves6878]

JEEEEZUS! The best interview of Orson Welles that I have ever seen! I can't thank you enough. The interviewer was great too.

[@NxDoyle]

I have seen this segment a few times over the years and listened to it again only a few days ago. It's dropped into my feed via another uploader and I'm more than happy to listen to it again. Orson Welles was such an uncommon talent.

[@deanadams3099]

I read a biography on Wells. His childhood was amazing. Truly nurtured.

[@glovere2]

A rare case where the interviewer was a good match for the interviewee. Great questions and an atmosphere of respect. Today’s audiences don’t have the education or the attention span anymore for this format.

[@mgoldman60]

We have always wanted to the original version of the Ambersons.

[@ExtremeUnction1988]

What a thoughtful and intelligent interviewer, and Orson, as always, is something totally out of this world. Really an exceptional mind, and person.

[@jupiterlegrand4817]

The idea that anyone would deny the greatest genius of cinema the keys to the cutting room or change one frame of any film of his is beyond my comprehension. "I'm sorry, Mr. Da Vinci, but we really need her to have a bigger smile..."

[@michaelmattice4986]

To say "Thank you" for sharing this, is not enough!

[@brucermorgan]

A brilliant set of points are made with such intense delivery .

[@CrappyFilms202]

Fabulous. Orson could charm a rock

[@bawol-official]

Love how highly he regards his crew. He was just as astonished by all their genius as they were of his and that’s how film magic happened… Wow

[@jupiterlegrand4817]

I know what you mean, but Greg Toland was hardly his "crew". Toland's name was right next to Welles in the credits, and has he has said in other interviews, he was the greatest cameraman that ever lived...and he was.

[@delona6485]

Wow, you can just hear genius spew out of his mouth!

[@garrison6863]

The veneration he has for Gregg Toland is really remarkable.

[@susanhesson6068]

The intelligence of this man . Excellent , conversationalist . ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@Milestonemonger]

I never understood how dense Hollywood executives could be to NOT give the genius Orson Welles complete authority to make as many masterpieces as he could?

[@hippojuice23]

Statis quo.

[@eamonnbrereton1525]

I return to this every year or so.Fantastic piece of television. The interviewer himself is really good as well.

[@Acrocanthosaurus]

Can we please elevate language to this level again?

[@eddiebrown687]

Orson must have somehow seen the future, he always acted like he knew something the rest of us didn't. I hope he's more fulfilled where he is now.

[@switchp8286]

It's more that things never change.

[@paulgrad5183]

He was amazing, and his later films were great too.

[@jeremypearson6852]

Imagine producing Citizen Kane and War of the World, that would be enough for some peoples entire career.

[@jimsager4917]

Then imagine people taking creative rights off you for political scammery reasons LOL. It's like when Simpsons writers told to stay home 1998 onward

[@jordil6152]

The more you watch Citizen Kane the stranger it appears.

[@Milestonemonger]

I wish I was half as articulate as Orson Welles. I just love listening to him talk.

[@briscoedarling3237]

Would that I could go back in time and spend a couple of hours drinking sack with ‘Falstaff’.

[@lisaburns4131]

Oh what a man after all that happened to him he was never sour about it all

[@MrQ1941]

God. I miss a world where MEN existed - men with brains, who thought before they asked, who thought before they replied, who had command of language, and could be civil regardless of the subject. Thank you for posting.

[@chickenflavor9880]

I miss them too. We should be more like them.

[@YEDxYED]

What are you talking about? Men like this still exist and men like this will forever exist. You’re only confused because men of any kind can be seen on camera nowadays without the thought of wasted film. In today’s society, anyone can have a voice. Therefore, you get all kinds of men and not the select few

[@eddiebrown687]

There are men like this all around, they just quietly live their life, take care of their family and have a certain moral code. They just aren't on TV or Movies so we don't know about them but thankfully they do exist.

[@Eowynnofrohan]

All of them are anti-trumps

[@garrison6863]

That contract he had for his first film is astonishing.

[@jcolson19]

Yes a really great movie. A man with great intellect

[@ndubstar]

there are some great points made here.

[@christopherdougherty9832]

The cinematographer,Gregg Toland,who did Citizen Kane later went on to do the cinematography for the The Best Years of Our Lives.

[@8TENASTER8IDS]

Yes, importantly before CK, Gregg Toland was also the cinematographer on William Wyler's film Wuthering Heights (1939) and both John Ford's films (1940) The Grapes Of Wrath and The Long Voyage Home.

[@ddthor]

Great cinematographer!

[@stevenshepard]

Welles became a reflection of Kane as he aged and became wealthy, obese, an obsessive collector, a hoarder and abandoned most of the liberal principles he held dear as a young man. Later in his life his genius was nearly squashed by a corporate entertainment industry that feared his abilities and what he might try to say in his films and performance.

[@paulkareta]

20 years to master a field, or you can get the best and learn everything that there is in a day 🙌😎

[@jaycepero8069]

If you think you’re smart listen to Mr Welles for a few minutes so you can free yourself from that delusion.

[@wyattrussell7496]

Hearst started the drug war alongside DuPont to ensure their profit margin. They were.worried about hemp, so they started propaganda against cannabis. A flower with healing ability and relief whenever the rose buds. Which is what the man who has everything, might want or desire, when he’s on his deathbed venture to the unknown. Long live Mr. Orson Welles.

[@tommydimopoulos6484]

If you buy the "Kane" DVD set, you'll see in the "Special Features" that "Kane" made Welles and also caused others to destroy him. Such a brilliant talent. I have the audio recording of the radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds". Still sounds authentic today. Incredible.

[@chrismaverick9828]

So many great, memorable films have been made by letting the person with the vision have complete, or nearly complete, control over every aspect. They are memorable because they are outside of the norm, a departure from the model the studios feel safe with. It happens in other places as well, such as video games and books. Real innovation and style is stifled by what the studio or publisher feels are "safe" as they relate to their peers at that time.

[@jax8740]

More then half of people nowadays wouldn’t even be able to follow what he’s saying. The dumbing down of our society is quite sad

[@dougn2350]

Intellectualism is considered anti American by the republican base.

[@natecw4164]

More than 30 Marvel movies in 25 years... Why think when you can just look at the pretty colors?

[@PlayNiceFolks]

Well, objectively, you're wrong.

[@PlayNiceFolks]

But hey, whatever. Let blind idiot nostalgia guide in these matters.

[@PlayNiceFolks]

​@@natecw4164 You did that on purpose right? That dumb logo as your picture...with this comment?

[@mrtriffid]

Genius, and in Welles' case, it reveals itself as a combination of intelligence and honesty. There are certainly elements of auto-biography in Kane, especially in the line "I don't KNOW how to run a newspaper: I just try everything I can think of!" Substitute "newspaper" with "movie!"

[@natecw4164]

Had everything there was to have but happiness. On his deathbed he died wishing he could give it all back just for the simple happiness he traded for fortune. Amazing film without even touching on the massive leaps in film making techniques. Or the amazing acting. Or the social commentary. I've always seen this film as a Shakespearean tragedy.

[@stephaniestanley8041]

How attractive he was

[@rwffolkes3039]

Finally. The most bestest, intelligent and candid review ever. And I've seen the majority of them (being cousined to Orson). Should be first on the list.

[@rwffolkes3039]

Don't let your little brain overload you.

[@81Fitzerz]

I love this man

[@johnneville403]

Superb interview.

[@少川靖男]

As a foreigner, I wonder how eloquence and command in expression, precision, depth, propriety, cadence etc start in one's life and with what nurturing upbringing. People might found Einstein a marvel of nature....but I would be more thrilled to see exactly how Welles' brain works as compared to the mundane and banal majority which would characterize ,unfortunately, most of us ( me, especially)

[@solefinder3708]

at 6:28 is so key to why many new people succeed, 'ignorance'....not knowing the odds against you. His answer here sums it all up sweetly.

[@TonyDucks89]

It's incredible that he made Citizen Kane when he was 25. The sophistication and wisdom he had at that age is stunning.

[@BearRyan]

Citizen Kane is a masterpiece. If you haven't seen it then please do. It is raved about for a reason.

[@Eowynnofrohan]

I saw it as a teenager. I can probably appreciate it better now.

[@8TENASTER8IDS]

.....What Experience!....Who Needs Experience?....Yes as Orson states, practically the entire Mercury Theatre cast assembled for the principle roles in Citizen Kane had never been in front of a camera before, it was their first experiences with cinema celluloid in 1941!!.....79 years on, this film has never been outside of the top 2 films ever made by a motion-picture studio to the present day (2020), as expressed and voted (polls) by international film directors, producers, (film critics), movie moguls, and the wider general public??....Experience!?!?

[@franknemeth7430]

Rosebud was something Kane loved as a boy before wealth set in . Rosebud was a snow sled - that was freedom riding down a hill and being a kid .

[@JohnJenkins-l4p]

He one of if not the world's most articulate man

[@bilalhadrous6829]

Who is here after watching Mank?

[@carolcallas]

Wells was right. The rise of the Auteur film maker was the death of the Hollywood Studio System.

[@jadentrez]

Well, I think that television was the real cause of the studio system's demise. By the early 60s people weren't going to the cinema anymore. TV was getting better and better and films were seen as old-fashioned and irrelevant. So the rise of the auteur filmmakers was really an act of desperation by the studios because the young filmmakers started making films like Easy Rider, Bonnie and Clyde, The Godfather, et al, and brought audiences back into theaters. So when auteur filmmakers came along, the studio system was already dead, they just brought the movies back to life.

[@johngraves6878]

Was the 70s the golden age of the director auteur? I think so. I do think so. The collapse of the studio system was a splendid development. Its return -- I would think not!

[@nikitabeskov8357]

Orson Welles is the best cast for a Winston Churchill role

[@crush3095]

orson welles always so fkng difficult to talk to

[@mjm5081]

❤

[@ivandaniel08]

One dislike. I really wonder how could THAT happen.

[@michaelmattice4986]

Perhaps they wanted more:)

[@danlevay5657]

Perhaps the thumb slipped.

[@robotnik77]

Hearst lives?

[@andrewwilliams9599]

Gregg Toland. Say his name.

[@SueUTube]

Welles was more interesting than Hearst.

[@odedfried-gaon2880]

Beginner's mind... indeed! We keep it, we own life, otherwise, it's downhill. 😀 #OdedFriedGaon #OdedMusic #OdedInformation #Audioded

[@sthompson4049]

Gregg toland welles remarkable

[@davidnewsome3948]

If only this were two hours long...

[@zelmoziggy]

What about “Too Much Johnson”?

[@pauldockree9915]

Any reel questions? Domino - RoseBud Citizen Kane? The Magnificent Ambersons? Se7en Deadly Dr Syns.

[@jameskorner6611]

Pure genius

[@joshb9516]

Pure ignorance.

[@peliche77]

Genius

[@BadManN_TheBushes]

One of these days bang 💥To the moon Alice

[@chrisallitt2113]

Tried watching citizen Kane it's so outdated and is a reflection of conservative and economically rich era.

[@chrisallitt2113]

If people don't get your message you're not very intelligent and clearly narcissistic

[@PlayNiceFolks]

Good pig **pats head**

[@Eowynnofrohan]

Wow really. A movie made in its time reflective of its time.

[@GRTakerTh]

the most brillant and Boring ! film of the century

[@bryanlund2730]

He had no attitude in interviews. Witch brings a person to feel he would be honest and real in person. Unlike the Film industry today. But than again there was no reason for wells to be arrogant.He was brilliant.

[@PlayNiceFolks]

The film industry today is exactly what it should be. It is the perfect progression of what came before. The talent of the actual work...of camera angles, of pacing, of talent, of how long it takes for the PA to get me my coffee...it's all evolved and IMPROVED. There's no lacking of good movies, it's just harder to find them.

[@jimtruscott5670]

So a story can’t be a social document?

[@woozyyt5573]

is Citizen Kane a good film? I like films with deep focus cinematographic technique. is it as good as Gemini Man?

[@eddiebrown687]

You need to watch it, there are camera angles that before that time had never been attempted...it's still considered the greatest film ever made.

[@keithtorgersen9664]

Even with voice modification, I can’t hear him as the voice of Unicron in the Transformers movie.

[@PlayNiceFolks]

Wat

[@chrisallitt2113]

They said avatar was one of the greatest movies ever and it was mega shit but made more money than any other movie. Citizen Kane would have cost like 10 times more than any other movie made back then. They had to sell it

[@PlayNiceFolks]

You're comment is ambiguous.

[@PlayNiceFolks]

Fuck Grammer

[@villll]

“good and bad…”

[@isaiahcruz3431]

6:26

[@melissabillingsley8866]

Forgiven!

[@wadesaleeby2172]

Rose Bud!

[@delona6485]

They don’t make him like him anymore! Can u imagine George Clooney or

[@fasteddie9867]

no I can't