Making of Citizen Kane, Revised edition

by Robert L. Carringer

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.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Media Tie In

185 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Milo Glaister · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who is interested in film history, as well as the mechanics behind the making of films, this was a really interesting capsule on the background of one of the preeminent films of all time.

While I found this to be slightly dense and granular in points, this is obviously meant as an academic text so, honestly, I got what was on the tin. That aside, this was still a very entertaining read in parts and was stacked full of brilliant behind the scenes insights, ranging from fun facts to deeply researched passages and anecdotes.

I would only recommend this to someone who is already a big fan of the film/decently familiar with Welles’ work, but if that’s you then this is essential film reading!

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit technical and dry, and the photographs are all reproduced too dark to get much from them, but it's still about one of my favorite films so my interest never flagged.

[Zachary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a surprisingly comprehensive but accessible introduction to the incredible reality behind the construction of cinema's most famous and enduring classic. I started this to get a bit of insight about the writing of the film, mostly as preparation for watching David Fincher's "Mank," and the chapter that covers this part of the film's creation/story is, indeed, wonderful and interesting. But I was impressed with the rest of the book in how it foregrounded Welles's collaborators, detailed the revolutionary processes and narrative ideas for film that emerged from those collaborations, and did so with an economy of language that was actually stupendous. Plus, the illustrations scattered throughout were fantastic. Truthfully, much of what is great about Citizen Kane has become so commonplace in cinema that it's hard for some contemporary viewers to understand the furor around it. This book steps in as an excellent guide for illustrating the unique qualities of the movie, and deftly handles many of the specific technical innovations that made that film an astounding thing decades ahead of the rest of the industry. As such, this could be a very useful book for introducing people to the appreciation of some of the finer points of the film's technical and narrative successes. That Welles himself is a primary source here is interesting, and certainly noteworthy, too.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

An even-handed evaluation of who contributed to the making of Citizen Kane, and to what extent, Carringer wisely dwells not only on the practical matters of screenplay construction, but expands the typical view of such creative endeavors to encompass the entirety of the film production apparatus.

The case ultimately made is a much more nuanced one than I had anticipated, and Carringer casts Kane in stark relief against the embattled production process that birthed The Magnificent Ambersons to form his most persuasive argument in this regard.

Without his closest and most talented collaborators, Welles found many of his weaknesses and faults laid bare, and the budget of his follow-up film ballooned considerably as a result. Rather than making the case that Welles alone deserves credit for Kane, Carringer provides ample supporting evidence for the view that Toland, James Stewart (not that one), and Perry Ferguson belong on at least equal footing with Welles and Mankiewicz in terms of credit. That's true of almost every film of course, but still.

[Thomas Burchfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little dry, but packed with detail and insight into the production of one of the greatest films ever made. One other aspect missing is a discussion on the contributions of the wonderful cast. All-in-all though, an excellent perspective on how movies got made during the Gold Era and the unique path taken by this one.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like the book would have been more suited as a journal article or an introduction to a more comprehensive book. Although it gives an overview of the production, I’d have liked more details. It did make me more curious about Welles and his work before Kane, though.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you love Citizen Kane as I do, you may find this book interesting. Otherwise, forget about it!

[McKenzie Welch · Rating 1 out of 5]

im a film major but i was bored

[SD · Rating 3 out of 5]

I DID but this for a class I was taking-but really-I can never read enough about CK or Orson Welles.

[Muzzlehatch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is certainly a must-read for anybody interested in the film; rather than a day-by-day, action-by-action accounting of the filming process (which would make for a vastly longer book, and a very tedious one for all but the most die-hard), Carringer has produced a very readable yet reasonably technical overview of how Orson Welles came to the project in the first place and how the collaborations between the then 25-year-old cinema neophyte and several much more experienced collaborators (chiefly composer Bernard Herrmann, cinematographer Gregg Toland, screenwriter Herman J Manckiewicz and art director Perry Ferguson) helped to result in one of the greatest of all Hollywood films. This is no simple accounting of what these talents contributed, though; Carringer has a thesis, that Welles produced his greatest work while in collaboration with a cadre of equals -- that in fact, far from the product of an all-seeing auteur, CK is a summation of the Hollywood studio system, and the most completely successful of the director's films as a result. His short discussion of the problems with the director's second film, "The Magnificent Ambersons" shows his opinion even more blatantly; it's one I happen to disagree with, as I value Welles' later independent productions just as highly as Kane, but he does make his points with some conviction. At any rate, worth the read for anyone interested in the director or in how big studio productions developed in the "Golden Age."

[Christine Dabbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually read the original, so I'm not sure what may have been different with the revised. I was unimaginably enthralled with reading this. I had no experience with the subject matter: never watched Citizen Kane or knew what it was about, knew nothing of film process in general. I think that's what got me with this book. And it was looking into one past through the lens of another (the book was published in the 80s).

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was incredibly boring. And why was there so much emphasis on the aborted movie before Kane and the disaster of a film after Kane? The book was more focused on technicalities that may be of interest for filmmakers, cinematographers or those in The Industry, bur for the fan, it gets very tedious very fast.

I only gave it two stars because of the high quality and amount of illustrations, not for the prose.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

detailed, insightful