Citizen Kane: An Accurate Portrayal of William Randolph Hearst? Many have called Citizen Kane the greatest cinematic achievement of all time. It is indeed a true masterpiece of acting, screen writing, and directing. Orson Welles, its young genius director, lead actor, and a co-writer, used the best talents and techniques of the day (Bordwell 103) to tell the story of a newspaper giant, Charles Kane, through the eyes of the people who loved and hated him. …showed first 75 words of 3755 total…

…showed last 75 words of 3755 total…did he spend all this effort on this one man, an apparent crusader for the people, for the working man? Simply, it was because Hearst, for all his apparent love of the people, was only trying to get love and power for himself by abusing the most potent weapon and shield of his day, the free press. "If I hadn't been very rich, I might have been a really great man." (Orson Welles, Citizen Kane)