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Vintage copy script (not a vintage original script) from the 1990's made-for-television biopic drama, RKO 281, directed by Benjamin Ross and originally broadcast on November 20, 1999, in which Orson Welles (Liev Schreiber) produces his greatest film, Citizen Kane (1941), despite the opposition of the film's de facto subject, William Randolph Hearst (James Cromwell). The cast includes Melanie Griffith, John Malkovich, Brenda Blethyn, Roy Scheider, Liam Cunningham, and David Suchet.
This copy script consists of 118 pages on white stock which were 3-hole punched and bound with two brass brads without any covers. It is complete in overall very fine condition with a stain on on the front cover and a 1 in. diagonal crease on the top right corner.
The title refers to the production number given by RKO Radio Pictures to Citizen Kane (1941). Screenwriter John Logan revealed that he did very little historical research for the film's screenplay other than watching the earlier documentary, American Experience: The Battle Over Citizen Kane (1996). Consequently, his final screenplay took a great deal of dramatic license with the depicted events. This was originally planned as a theatrical film. The original cast consisted of Edward Norton as Orson Welles, Marlon Brando as William Randolph Hearst, Madonna as Marion Davies, Dustin Hoffman as Herman J. Mankiewicz, Meryl Streep as Louella Parsons. Ridley Scott was slated to direct. But studios passed on the film because of the projected $40 million budget. Scott dropped out as director. Brando and Hoffman also dropped out. Gene Hackman was considered to replace Brando and Al Pacino was considered to replace Hoffman. Eventually, the project was scaled down to a television movie and the entire cast was replaced.
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