A couple nights ago I had the pleasure of watching the new movie offering from Netflix: Mank. It's a very well done drama based on the story/controversy surrounding Herman J. Mankiewicz, who wrote (or allegedly co-wrote with Orson Wells) the screenplay for "Citizen Kane."

The movie stars Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried (as Marion Davies) provide their best performances in this black and white production with period music to go with the overall treatment. Lots of flashbacks focusing on Mankiewicz's left leaning politics, as well as self-destructive drinking and personality. It's probably the best "Hollywood" self-examination period piece I've seen and regardless of how credible the telling of this story really is, the presentation is very entertaining. Well worth the 2+ hours to watch it!!!

https://www.vulture.com/2020/1...what-is-fiction.html

I saw the trailer while on Netflix this weekend, it got my interest, I’m gonna watch it. Thanks for the review.

Beautifully made by any way one may judge a movie. With a passing familiarity of Hollywood history, a feast of pleasures.

Well, for the first half anyway, then yep, here comes the ham-handed politics. In its way, not really gratuitous but off-putting in its self righteousness. A great film that should have been much better.

A big full thumbs up for half a movie.

And what's with this bullshit about the "allegedly co-wrote" bullshit? The only source for this lie was a completely fabricated article from Pauline Kael, a bitter twat from the New York Times that couldn't bother to interview anyone from Citizen Kane except John Houseman who's career died after Orson Welles got rid of him. Everyone else involved with Citizen Kane says without both of them, the movie wouldn't exist, but any claim that the script wasn't written by both of them is a liar.

Here's a recent link over the issue from Peter Bogdanovich, Director and friend of Orson Welles:

https://decider.com/2020/12/10...it-for-citizen-kane/

As for "Mank," I'll probably get around to it as David Fincher is one of my favorite directors and he said that the script his father wrote "didn't understand the relation between Director and Writer,' but this lie that Welles stole the credit for "Citizen Kane" boils my blood.

If I offended you pulicords, I apologize, but while I do agree that thenonly reason it won the Oscar for best screenplay was for Mank as everyone hated Welles for being an outsider and got a better deal from RKO than anyone else got, the idea that Welles stole credit for the movie from Mank is ridiculous.

quote:

Originally posted by DanH:
If I offended you pulicords, I apologize, but while I do agree that thenonly reason it won the Oscar for best screenplay was for Mank as everyone hated Welles for being an outsider and got a better deal from RKO than anyone else got, the idea that Welles stole credit for the movie from Mank is ridiculous.

No offense on my part as I neither wrote Mank or had any other part in the production!!! I was a viewer that had only a passing familiarity of the movie (Citizen Kane) and some of the controversy surrounding it's view of Hearst and his circle. IMOH the editorial content of "Mank" was far less of interest than the drama portrayed on the screen, most of which involved the issue of Mankiewicz's self destructive personality.

Gary Oldman did a bangup job.