- Title: USA / FILE: Orson Welles' Oscar and script from 'Citizen Kane' up for auction
- Date: 10th December 2007
- Summary: (L!2) NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK USA (DECEMBER 03, 2007) (REUTERS) SOTHEBY'S BUILDING VARIOUS OF ORSON WELLES' OSCAR FOR BEST SCREENPLAY FOR "CITIZEN KANE" (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEE DUNBAR, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COLLECTIBLES DEPARTMENT AT SOTHEBY'S SAYING: "The American FIlm Institute not once, but twice, has named 'Citizen Kane' the greatest film of all time. It broke ground in 1941. Movies before that were typically escapist for the depression, they were fantasies, they were melodramas -- think 'Gone With the Wind', think 'Wizard of Oz'. 'Citizen Kane' ushered in a whole new era of film-making, of lighting techniques, of, of camera techniques and a new way of telling a story." NAME ENGRAVING ON THE OSCAR BACK OF THE OSCAR STATUE SHOWING HOW THE 18 KARAT GOLD PLATING HAS WORN OFF ORSON WELLES' WORKING SCRIPT FOR 'CITIZEN KANE' HANDWRITTEN NAME 'MR. WELLES' ON THE COVER OF THE SCRIPT BLUE CRAYON MARKINGS ON THE SCRIPT (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEE DUNBAR, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COLLECTIBLES DEPARTMENT AT SOTHEBY'S SAYING: "A lot of the blue crayon crossing out of dialogue, we believe to be Welles himself, because he was known for doing that. And you will see entire passages that are rewritten, again to sharpen the language, to sharpen the characters. It's great, because there's a huge metamorphosis between the first script and the final shooting script."
- Embargoed: 25th December 2007 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
- Reuters ID: LVABEO3QA5K3FYRGF2VAHRS4B4J
- Story Text: It won only one Oscar, but Orson Welles' 1941 film "Citizen Kane" is widely considered his best movie. Now the Academy Award Welles received for his masterwork can be bought for a cool million -- or maybe more.
Sotheby's senior vice president of Collectibles Lee Dunbar, says "Movies before that were typically escapist for the depression, they were fantasies, they were melodramas -- think 'Gone With the Wind', think 'Wizard of Oz'. 'Citizen Kane' ushered in a whole new era of film-making, of lighting techniques, of camera techniques and a new way of telling a story."
The most comparable Oscar to Welles' fetched 1.5 million (USD) at Sotheby's in 1999 --- it was the award won by David O. Selznick for Best Picture for "Gone With the Wind. "
"Citizen Kane" is about a power-hungry newspaper baron with political aspirations and was loosely based on newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst. Despite Hearst's influence over the Academy, "Citizen Kane" still won the best original screenplay award, but otherwise was largely ignored at the awards.
The Oscar has almost as tangled a past as the film's protagonist, Charles Foster Kane. The award was believed to have been lost until it surfaced at another Sotheby's auction in 1994 after being held in secrecy by a Los Angeles cinematographer who once worked with Welles and received it from him as payment.
Welles' youngest daughter, Beatrice, sued Sotheby's and the cinematographer and eventually claimed the Oscar. When she tried to sell it, the academy sued her as part of its long-standing goal of keeping Oscars off commercial markets.
But because Welles was not a member of the Academy when she signed the first right of refusal contract, she prevailed in court.
In 2003, Welles sold the Oscar to the Dax Foundation, a Los Angeles-based non-profit group that supports various educational, health and other causes. Dax is auctioning the Oscar.
Adding to the "Citizen Kane" Oscar which Welles won, is the sixth of seven working scripts of the original screenplay, estimated to sell for between 80,000 and 120,000 (USD). In it, are blue crayon markings, believe to have been made by Welles.
"You will see entire passages that are rewritten, again to sharpen the language, to sharpen the characters. It's great, because there's a huge metamorphosis between the first script and the final shooting script,"
said Dunbar.
The auction of both items takes place on December 11. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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