The rich, powerful and talented who caught Mr. Hearst's attention were all given invitations to spend time in Mr. Hearst's palatial estate, built from the ground up by Mr. Hearst himself. Scandalously, the hostess of the castle was not Mrs. Hearst, but the famed actress Marion Davies, who helped Mr. Hearst's guests make the most of their time in the castle. It was allegedly "anything goes" in the estate, the only sins being outlasting one's welcome or damaging any of Mr. Hearst's priceless antiquities.
Of course, many people were curious about this bizarre shangri la, none so much as the young filmmaker Orson Welles. Mr. Welles sat down with his co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz and fashioned a tale that seemed to be based on WR Hearst's life. However only Mr. Mankiewicz had actually visited Hearst Castle and they mostly exaggerated things so as to not run afoul of Mr. Hearst and the libel laws. Charles Foster Kane was a man who seemed to have little taste, but a ton of money. He hoards the world's fine art and antiquities, believing himself to be a man of great taste. His mistress is depicted as a woman of little talent who greatly relies on Mr. Kane to prop up her barely breathing career.
While the film was greatly exaggerated, Hearst was sent into a violent fit of rage. Mr. Welles had sought merely to use Hearst's life as a jumping off point to craft an unbelievable piece of fiction. Mr. Hearst took the film as a personal affront and sought to ruin the film and Orson Welles. Unfortunately for Mr. Welles, Hearst had a large portion of the United States' media under his total control. Despite Mr. Hearst's best efforts, however, the film saw the light of day. Orson Welles told a story claiming that he shared an elevator ride with Hearst the day of the film's premiere. After a long period of awkward silence, Orson spoke up, offering Hearst free tickets to the film's showing that night. Hearst didn't acknowledge Orson at all and as he bid a hasty exit from the elevator Orson told him that Charles Kane would have accepted the tickets. Hearst may have never forgiven Orson Welles, but the film itself became a classic, often considered to be the best film ever made. Orson got the last laugh in this battle.
