Includes bibliographical references and index.

Machine generated contents note: -- Acknowledgments -- Foreword -- A note on the Illustrations and the text -- Citizen Kane: a recollection PART ONE -- 1 Before the beginning -- 2 The beard and the contract -- 3 The script -- 4 The consequences of his actions -- 5 RKO production #281 -- 6 A great deal of doing -- 7 No visitors, please -- 8 Giggling like schoolboys -- 9 Cryptic notes and bigger hams PART TWO -- 10 Conflict -- 11 Negotiating and placating -- 12 Mr. Hearst -- 13 Release -- 14 Triumph -- 15 After the end viewer's guide to Citizen Kane -- Cast and production credits -- Gregg Toland: "I broke the rules in Citizen Kane" -- Bernard Herrmann: a conversation at the George Eastman House -- Citizen Kane: scene-by-scene guide -- The budget -- RKO soundstages -- Resources about Orson Welles and Citizen Kane -- Notes -- Bibliography -- List of illustrations -- Index.

"With the approach of the 75th anniversary of Citizen Kane in May 2016, Harlan Lebo has written the full story of Orson Welles' masterpiece film. The book will explore: --Welles' meteoric rise to stardom in New York and the real reason behind his arrival in Hollywood --Welles' unprecedented contract with RKO Studios for total creative control and the deeper issues that impeded his work instead --The dispute over who wrote the script --The mystery of the "lost" final script, which the author has in his possession, and the missing scenes, which answer questions relating to the creation of the film --The plot by Hearst to destroy Welles' project through blackmail, media manipulation, and other tactics --A detailed look behind the scenes of a production process that was cloaked in secrecy --The surprising emergence of Citizen Kane as an enduring masterpiece Using previously unpublished material from studio files and the Hearst organization, exclusive interviews with the last surviving members of the cast and crew, and what may be the only surviving copy of the "lost" final script of the film, Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker's Journey recounts the making of one of the most famous films in Hollywood history"-- Provided by publisher.