Comments on: Citizen Kane Did Marion Davies Wrong

By: Fraser

Fraser — Fri, 19 May 2023 12:09:26 +0000

Welles, like a lot of people in Hollywood, was good at rewriting his history to look good. Broadcast Hysteria, a book on the War of the Worlds panic, notes that years later Welles began exaggerating how effective his broadcast had been at convincing the public there was a real invasion.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Thu, 18 May 2023 11:05:44 +0000

In reply to Fraser.

Ha! And that’s with me catching an earlier instance where I mixed up Hearst and Kane. 🙂 Thanks, Fraser, fixed it.

And yes, the real life dynamic between Hearst and Davies was so interesting that it is even more annoying that Welles ignored it all for his character assassination of Davies (“No one will think it’s you, his mistress MARRIED him in the film! You never married him, so no one will think it’s you!”).

By: Fraser

Fraser — Thu, 18 May 2023 10:17:20 +0000

“It’s true that Welles used his money and power to help Davies’ career,” I believe that’s Hearst, not Welles. Otherwise, solid piece; I understand that disrespecting Davies was one of Hearst’s biggest issue when he set out to crush the film.
Davies years later candidly admitted she’d gotten involved with Hearst seeing him as a rich sucker; then she helped him out with her own money during the Depression (he’d hit a financial reverse) “so it turned out I was the sucker.”