By RAY KELLY
Orson Welles fans drawn to the Criterion Collection’s new 4K UHD release of Citizen Kane for its stunning restoration and transfer will be delighted to also find a treasure trove of extras.
Comparing the 4K UHD disc to the restoration Warner Brothers undertook for the film’s 70th anniversary in 2011, the Criterion image is slightly darker and richer. As we reported earlier, the companion Blu-ray has a technical error 30 minutes into the film and a replacement program has been announced. (For those wondering just how dramatic the drop in visual quality is, I should note that I had to rewind it and point out the change to my viewing companion.)
Since the original Citizen Kane negative no longer exists, Criterion utilized a 35mm nitrate composite fine-grain master made from the original negative in 1941 for its restoration. Since some sequences had been damaged, Criterion also relied on a 35mm duplicate negative, struck from the nitrate-grain master itself in 1941. Both film elements were scanned in 16-bit 4K resolution.
The four-disc digipak consists of the UHD disc and companion Blu-ray of the feature film with two other Blu-rays packed with extras. A booklet with a lengthy essay by film critic Bilge Ebiri is also included.
Top-notch cradle-to-grave special features fill the two Blu-rays of extras, ranging from the 1934 silent short Welles co-directed at the age of 19, The Hearts of Age, to an appearance on Merv, taped hours before his death on October 10, 1985. The latter is contained in a splendid new documentary, My Guest is Orson Welles, which features numerous clips from Welles’ talk show appearances.
Criterion has crafted two other fine shorts: the first focuses on Kane’s visual effects and the other compares the central character of Charles Foster Kane to newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst.
One of the best — but seldom seen — Kane-related documentaries, The Complete Citizen Kane, is included courtesy of the BBC. How “complete?” The British documentarians got their hands on Turner Entertainment’s test footage for the aborted colorization of Kane and it is disturbing to see.
Criterion has resurrected On Toland, its featurette on cinematographer Gregg Toland, as well as the Knowing Welles documentary it created for a 1990 laser disc release.The latter features comments from The Other Side of the Wind producer Frank Marshall, cinematographer Gary Graver and director Peter Bogdanovich. Criterion wisely included audio commentaries by Bogdanovich and the late Roger Ebert recorded for Warner Brothers’ previous DVD releases, as well as a new track featuring insight from Welles scholars Jonathan Rosenbaum and James Naremore.
There is a wealth of other rarities: Welles pal and co-star Joseph Cotten discussing his career on Granada Television in 1966; select The Mercury Theatre on the Air radio shows; and a joint 1979 appearance by Welles and former partner John Houseman recorded in 1979. Welles heaps praise on his frenemy and the two men share memories of the Mercury Theatre.
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