Paper Summary:

The paper compares and contrasts the basic film making techniques and themes that Orson Welles in "Citizen Kane" and Raoul Walsh in "Roaring Twenties" utilized in telling essentially the same story. The paper explains that both of these stories are set in the 1920s and both illustrate aspects of the American dream, with the rise and fall of the hero in the story. The paper shows how these are stories of good and evil in a society torn by war, excess, and then crushing economic crisis. The paper concludes that both films are filled with some of the finest actors, are written with a compelling dramatic style and are memorable due to their cinematic techniques.

From the Paper:

"Both of these films are created in stark black-and-white, even though color in films did make its debut in 1939, with the classic "Wizard of Oz," and 1939 was the same year "Roaring Twenties" debuted. Both of these films are based on the lives of real people, even thought they might not acknowledge that. "Kane" is based on the life of wealthy publisher William Randolph Hearst, while "Roaring Twenties" is loosely based on the life of gambler and racketeer Larry Fay. There is one major difference between the two characters that is made quite clear in the film. Eddie, the hero of "Roaring Twenties" (played by film great James Cagney), is basically a good man who is thrown into the world of gangsters and bootlegging due to society and economics. Charles Foster Kane (played by Orson Welles), is a good child who becomes corrupt early, and becomes enamored of his own power and prestige so much that any traces of good left in him only seem to emerge on his death bed, when his last word is of his precious sled from so long ago."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Naremore, James, ed. Orson Welles's Citizen Kane: A Casebook. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
• Villarejo, Amy. Film Studies: The Basics. New York, Routledge, 2007.
• Walsh, Raoul, dir. Roaring Twenties. Perf. James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Priscilla Lane. 1939. Warner Brothers.

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