RKO 281 Page #16

Welles sees Schaefer standing before all this activity, deep in

thought.

Welles goes to him and they stand together in silence for a moment as

they watch the house being razed.

SCHAEFER:

Recognize

Welles shakes his head

SCHAEFER:

It's Tara. From GONE WITH THE WIND

Pause as they watch Scarlett O'Hara's dream mansion being torn apart.

WELLES:

It's ... sad

A beat.

SCHAEFER:

Not really. It's only a set, after all Just lumber.

.

SCHAEFER:

(quietly)

You know, we make all these pictures, we turn em

out one after another, without thinking most of the

time. Just like making toasters or Packards or

toothpaste. But then sometimes ... something amazing

happens and you get a GONE WITH THE WIND.

Or a CITIZEN KANE

SCHAEFER (CONT.)

And no one can ever take that away from you.

They gaze at the destruction of Tara as we hear:

RADIO ANNOUNCER (VOICE OVER)

... and in financial news, rumors continue to swirl

around the head of publishing baron William Randolph

Hearst. . .

INT. SAN SIMEON. ROMAN POOL_NIGHT

Hearst sits in a wicker chair by the shimmering in-door Roman Pool. But

for Hearst and the single chair, the pool is deserted and has no other

furniture.

Hearst is staring at the gold and blue mosaic of tiles reflected in the

water.

As we hear:

RADIO ANNOUNCER (VOICE OVER, CONT.)

... Sources report that the Hearst Empire is

facing some rocky times ahead as the press lord is

facing mounting debts and shrinking revenues due to

over expansion and fiscal mismanagement that have

resulted in...

The radio voice fades to silence.

The silence continues but for the haunting echo of a lion roaring in

the distance. Then Hearst hears the sound of footsteps echoing on the

tile. He looks up. It is Marion. She walks around the pool to him.

Without a word she hands him a check.

It is made out to William Randolph Hearst in the amount of one million

dollars and is signed Marion Davies.

A long pause. He looks up at her, profoundly moved.

MARION:

I started out as a gold-digger, ya know But goddamn

if I didn't fall in love with the guy.

EXT. MAYER'S ESTATE_DAY

A row of six shining limousines are lined up in front of Mayor's

enormous house. The chauffeurs stand together and chat.

EXT. MAYER'S ESTATE. BACKYARD

Mayer sits in the glorious back garden of his house. Six other men are

gathered around him.

Mayer nods his head to each as we pan around the faces

MAYER:

Mr. Zanuck ... Mr. Warner ... Mr. Cohn Mr. Disney

.. . Mr. Goldwyn . . . Mr. Selznick.

A beat.

Thank you all for coming. You got my memo. What do we do?

A beat

JACK WARNER:

He's a f***ing punk, why does Hearst give a sh*t?

MAYER:

It's enough that he does

SAM GOLDWYN:

Would Louella really do it?

MAYER:

In a New York minute

DAVID 0. SELZNICK

I say to hell with Louella and to hell with Hearst!

Bring 'em on. We can take em.

HARRY COHN:

We all didn't make GONE WITH THE WIND, ya know.

Some of us gotta look at this checkbook-wise.

MAYER:

Who isn't hurting already? All this Jew talk and

these Communist rumors. Look, he's boycotting RKO

ads right now -- but how long before he takes on

Warners or Fox or Columbia?

HARRY COHN:

Goddamn right.

A beat.

MAYER:

And if Hearst goes public with all this filthy

private lives stuff, Hollywood's sunk. He's got us

nailed. Dates. Times. Photographs for God's sake.

WALT DISNEY:

I don't mean to be funny, but what could he have on

Mickey Mouse?

MAYER:

He's got you so tied in with J. Edgar Hoover and

America First that you might as well put on a brown

shirt and kiss those happy little kiddies so-long.

DAVID 0. SELZNICK

(suddenly)

Have any of you actually seen the movie?

A beat.

DAVID 0. SELZNICK

I have. It's probably the greatest motion picture

ever made. Nothing's going to be the same after

this. With this one movie he's changed the way we

see--

JACK WARNER:

Who the f*** cares?

DAVID 0. SELZNICK

I do. And so should all of you--

JACK WARNER:

Get off the soapbox--

Selznick stands.

DAVID 0. SELZNICK

I want no part of this. We should be marching into

George Schaefer's office and standing with him. He's

one of us!

MAYER:

David-

DAVID 0. SELZNICK

If I ever got into trouble I'd like to think that

you all would be with me -- not planning to stab me

in the back like a bunch of ... a bunch of ...

producers!

He storms off

JACK WARNER:

(to Mayer)

Your son-in-law meshuaena.

A pause.

Laughter

A pause.

DISNEY:

(nervously)

He's got me and Hoover?

JACK WARNER:

Relax, Walt, at least he don't have you screwing

Snow White. I got f***ing Errol Flynn on my payroll!

SAM GOLDWYN:

(to Mayer)

You're a smart man, L.B. I suspect you would not

have called us here without a plan. Give over.

MAYER:

We will buy the movie and we will destroy it.

MAYER:

We will assemble a fund between us -- privately,

'not studio money -- we will assemble this fund and

we will go to George Schaefer and we will buy the

negative and every print of CITIZEN KANE and we will

burn them.

A long pause

MAYER:

If I do not hear an objection to this agenda in the

next five seconds I will assume the motion has

carried.

Five seconds tick by as we focus on the titans of Hollywood

MAYER:

Very well, my associates will be in touch to

arrange payment. Thank you for your time.

INT. RECORDING STAGE_DAY

KANE composer Bernard Hermann again stands before the orchestra, his

arm poised, waiting to begin conducting. He is about to record some new

music for the deep-focus Thatcher/Bernstein/Kane scene from CITIZEN

KANE.

Welles sits nearby, supervising everything. Welles nods and on a movie

screen the scene from KANE begins and Hermann starts conducting. The

orchestra plays.

The music carries into and gradually fades during.

INT. SAN SIMEON. ASSEMBLY ROOM_DAY

In a scene eerily reminiscent of the Thatcher/Bernstein/Kane scene,

Marion sits in the extreme foreground, a man we do not know sits at

middle distance at a desk and Hearst stands far away.

Hearst has his back to them and stares out a window.

The new man is MR. LEWIS, a tight banker from New York, 50's.

He looks over a thick legal document on the desk as he speaks:

LEWIS You will retain some editorial control over the remaining

newspapers but the actual ownership will go to the Conservation

Committee and the banks. We will be immediately closing 12 of the

papers and the wire services. And we will be liquidating other assets

as soon as possible. Most of the land in Mexico as well as your

collection of art and antiquities--

MARION:

(quietly)

Mr. Hearst spent his life collecting that art.

LEWIS:

(ignoring her)

We've been in touch with Gimbels in New York and

they've agreed to hold a special sale. They're

giving over an entire floor for the merchandise.

You'll have to go there in person to sign the bill

of sale, by the way.

HEARST:

(softly, not turning)

I'll have to sell the animals.

LEWIS:

And we don't know whether we'll be able to retain

the castle. The land has some capital and we might

keep it on as an investment. Maybe break it up into

smaller units for housing.

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