"Sheer ignorance - you know, there's no confidence to equal it." - Orson Welles.

Orson Welles speaks with Huw Wheldon about his career in film, with particular focus on Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons. He explains how a young man with no prior filmmaking experience was able to create such a groundbreaking masterpiece at his first attempt, why RKO Pictures gave him complete creative control of the project, and the most important lesson he learned from the greatest cinematographer of the time, Gregg Toland. Was the character of Kane based on the newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, or was the film actually autobiographical? Does Welles regret that his greatest success came to him so early in life? Why do Hollywood studios keep locking him out of editing suites?

Originally broadcast 13 March, 1960.*

*At 15:07, the beginning of Huw Wheldon's question was missing, so a fade transition has been inserted.

Incidentally, viewers in Britain can currently watch a selection of classic RKO films - including Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons - on iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/group/p...




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