personal working copy of the script for citizen kane

Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contact: Lauren Gioia 212 606 7176 Fax: 212 606 7381

SOTHEBY’S TO SELL ORSON WELLES’ PERSONAL WORKING COPY OF THE SCRIPT FOR CITIZEN KANE THE PENULTIMATE VERSION SHOWS NUMEROUS ANNOTATIONS AND REVISIONS, INCLUDING NEW SCENES THE 156-PAGE SCRIPT IS ESTIMATED TO SELL FOR $80/120,000 ON DECEMBER 11, 2007 New York, NY – On December 11, 2007, Sotheby’s New York will offer Orson Welles’ personal working copy of the script for the famed film, Citizen Kane. The 156-page script, the last revised draft before the final shooting script, contains numerous annotations, revisions, and deletions, as well as the addition of a few new scenes. With the majority of Welles’ archive held by the Lilly Library at Indiana University, only a few pieces of Citizen Kane memorabilia of this kind are left in private hands. This rare piece of American cinematic memorabilia is expected to bring $80/120,000. It will be offered for sale alongside Orson Welles’ own 1941 Academy Award for Best Screenplay for the renowned masterpiece, Citizen Kane (est. $800,000/1.2 million). (Separate release available).

“The Citizen Kane script is the most important screenplay of all time,” said Leila Dunbar, Director of Sotheby’s Collectibles Department. “It was a collaboration where Herman Mankiewicz set the foundation and Orson Welles added the emotion, depth and power, raising the text to a much higher level. Mankiewicz gave the story life but Welles made it immortal.”

Orson Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz, the creative minds behind the acclaimed screenplay, produced seven total scripts for Citizen Kane, each with critical modifications that culminated with the Oscar®-winning script. The present script, clearly stamped “Second Revised Final Script” on the cover page, is Welles’ own copy of the sixth and final draft before the shooting script. All of the written changes in the script are in the hand of Welles’ assistant, Kathryn Trosper, as indicated by the blue pencil “Trosper” in the upper left hand corner of the cover. Additional text in pencil on the cover page includes, “Mr. Welles,” “new Breakfast scene,” as well as a listing of all pages on which changes had been made.

Remarkably, Citizen Kane stands as Orson Welles’ first feature film after his move to Hollywood at just 25 years of age. The film records the story of publishing magnate Charles Foster Kane whose early career was guided by a loyalty to the greater social good, a path which would later deteriorate to a narcissistic quest for individual supremacy. Widely understood as being based on the life of American publishing baron, William Randolph Hearst, the film was the subject of a smear campaign, ignored by all media outlets under the Hearst umbrella and the movie ultimately underperformed at the box office, although it received universal critical raves for its remarkable writing and production. Nominated for three Oscars at the 1942 Academy Awards for writer (with Herman J. Mankiewicz), director and actor in a leading role, Welles received only one golden statuette that evening, and it remained the only Academy Award he won in his lifetime.

Even more shocking, the film was not even

nominated for Best Picture, as the far less controversial (and memorable) “How Green Was My Valley” took home the award.

Welles continued to write, direct, produce and perform film and radio productions throughout the rest of his life, but none would receive the attention, nor the acclaim of Citizen Kane. In 1971, Welles received an Honorary Award for his contribution to the history of motion pictures and in 1975 the American Film Institute gave him the Lifetime Achievement Award. Citizen Kane was voted the number one U.S. film by the American Film Institute in 2007 and the greatest film in history by Sight & Sounds Top Ten Poll 2002, conducted by the British Film Institute.

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