DS, three pages, 8.5 x 11, January 14, 1941. An agreement between Mercury Productions (Welles’ production company) and RKO, wherein, per a previous agreement, Welles is to deliver on or before February 1, 1941, “a picture based upon an original story, tentatively entitled ‘Citizen Kane.’” Welles would then commence production on a second picture on or before April 1, 1941, and would commence on a third picture within ninety days of completing the second. Though production of Welles’ first film and his undisputed masterpiece was completed and the film was ready for release in February 1941, the attempted interference of Kane’s “model,” newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, delayed the premiere until May 1. While the film enjoyed a generally positive but not overwhelming reception—it garnered several Oscar nominations and one win, for Best Original Screenplay—it wasn’t until its rerelease in the following decade that the genius of Welles’ accomplishment was fully recognized. That RKO placed great faith in Welles’ promise as a filmmaker is clear from the risky decision to sign him up for two more pictures before Kane was even released. Welles’ next picture for RKO, The Magnificent Ambersons, is widly viewed as a flawed masterpiece—mainly because Welles, off in South America on the disastrous shoot for the never-completed documentary It’s All True—was unable to attend to editing duties himself. The result was a much-truncated version of Welles’ vision—and an ominous bellwether of the director’s increasing inability to work within the Hollywood system. Though Welles went on to direct a number of films of great distinction—including The Lady from Shanghai and Touch of Evil—the full scope of his directorial ambitions would never be realized. The document is housed in its original stapled paper folder. Marginal paperclip stain to top of first page, otherwise fine, clean condition. Documents related to Citizen Kane—a film that tops many lists as the greatest of all time—take a place of highest desirability among vintage Welles and Hollywood autograph material. PSA/DNA Auction LOA and R&R COA.
