"Citizen Kane": Behind the Scenes Quiz

Answer: Dorothy Comingore

Dorothy Comingore (who played Susan Alexander Kane) was pregnant throughout a rather long segment of shooting. Director Orson Welles dressed her in flowing robes and gowns, and placed her behind obstacles in order to mask her condition.

Answer: Raymond, the butler

It's a common misconception that no one was in the room when Kane spoke his dying word(s), "Rosebud"...but the script itself contradicts this idea. At the end of the film, when "News on the March" reporter Mr. Thompson (William Alland) asks Raymond (Paul Stewart) about the meaning of the term "Rosebud," Raymond states that he heard Kane say "Rosebud" just after his second wife left Xanadu...and, he adds, "that other time, too." We never *see* Raymond in the room during the opening scene of the film when Kane dies, but the dialogue demands (as does logic) that *someone* heard Kane's final words, and Raymond appears to have been that critical witness -- "that other time, too" seems to be a reference to Kane's final moment alive.

Answer: Alan Ladd

Ladd plays one of the reporters in the shadowy "News on the March" screening room early in the film, and appears again (still in shadow) in the final scenes. He received no official credit for his role.

Answer: "Wuthering Heights" (1939)

Toland was nominated for every single one of the films mentioned -- and, eventually, for "Citizen Kane," as well -- but by the time he approached Welles, he had only won for "Wuthering Heights."

Answer: a broken ankle

During the shooting of the scene in which Kane chases "Boss" Jim Gettys down a flight of stairs, Welles broke his ankle. He spent some time in a wheelchair after that point, and walked haltingly during his recovery. This would be a major obstacle for most filmmakers, but Welles simply folded the limp into the walk of the "older" Charles Foster Kane for the rest of the shoot.

Answer: He directed all of these films

Robert Wise directed all three of these films, as well as the original (read: BETTER) version of "The Haunting" (1963) and "The Andromeda Strain."

Answer: Margaret

Dorothy was born Margaret Louise Comingore, and appeared in several "Three Stooges" features before being tapped by Orson Welles for "Citizen Kane."

Answer: D. B. Sweeney

MacFayden played Welles in "Cradle Will Rock" (1999); Schrieber played Welles quite brilliantly in "RKO 281" (1999); D'Onofrio played Welles (with a dubbed-in voice) in "Ed Wood" (1994). As of September 2003, Sweeney has never portrayed Welles in a motion picture.

Answer: 1

The only Academy Award the film won was for Best Original Screenplay, shared by Orson Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz.

Answer: RKO Pictures

Anyone who's seen the made-for-cable movie "RKO 281" should have gotten this one right.

Answer: criticism

The sleep-deprived Cotten pronounced "criticism" as "crimitism." Welles liked the authenticity of the error so much that he left it in the film. Listen for it!

Answer: Jean Forward

Jean Forward, as far as I can determine, never did anything else in the film industry aside from this thankless role in "Citizen Kane" -- and, according to Roger Ebert's commentary on the DVD, composer Bernard Herrmann demanded that she sing a half octave above her natural range in order to make her sound weak!

Answer: May Day

"Citizen Kane" was first shown to the American moviegoing public on May 1, 1941.

Answer: the Palace Theatre

The original plan was for "Citizen Kane" to premiere at Radio City Music Hall, but various circumstances did not allow for that plan to be realized; as a result, "Citizen Kane" premiered in a smaller theater.

Answer: He refers to the property by all of these names

Leland: "What's it called again? Shangri-La? El Dorado? Sloppy Joe's?" Leland quickly admits to Thompson that he knew that the name of Kane's compound was Xanadu all the time -- he was just pretending not to remember.