American: An Odyssey to 1947

ORSON WELLES WAS CERTAINLY AN INNOVATIVE & PHENOMENAL TALENT. (ALTHOUGH I CAN'T AGREE WITH THE STATEMENT FOROM THE GENTLEMAN IN THE FILM WHO SAID THAT "CITIZEN KANE" WAS THE GREATEST FILM OF ALL TIME. I REALLY THINK THAT HONOR SHOULD GO TO "THE WIZARD OF OZ"). AND WHAT I FOUND PHENOMENAL ABOUT THIS FILM WAS HO IT WAS ABLE TO SHOW THE HISTORICAL EVENTS THAT WERE OCCURRING SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE RISE OF WELLES' CAREER: ESPECIALLY WHEN IT CHRONICLED THE RACIST ASSAULT AND INTENTIONAL BLINDING OF A BLACK WAR VETERAN NAMED ISAAC WOODARD BY A WHITE SOUTHERN POLICEMAN. MR. WOODARD SHOULD CERTAINLY BE REMEMBERED ALONGSIDE OTHER VICTIMS OF RACIST VIOLENCE, SUCH AS GEORGE FLOYD, WALTER SCOTT, TRAYVON MARTIN, JAMES CHANEY, & THE 300 VICTIMS OF THE TULSA CITY MASSACRE. IT WAS ALSO IMPORTANT FOR THE FILM TO REPORT ON THE INTERNMENT OF JAPANESE-AMERICAN CITIZENS. I WAS GLAD THAT THE JAPANESE-AMERICAN GENTLEMAN WAS WILLING TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE GENERALS WHO RULED JAPAN AT THAT TIME MURDERED MILLIONS OF PEOPLE, BUT I THINK THAT THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SPECIFIC MENTIONS OF THE 300,000 PEOPLE MURDERED IN THE MANCHURIAN MASSACRE, AS WELL AS THE MASSACRES THAT OCCURRED IN MALAYSIA AND THE PHILLIPINES AND THE 35-YEAR OCCUPATION OF KOREA BY JAPAN. IT WAS ALSO GOOD FOR THE FILMMAKERS TO MENTION THE SHODDY TREATMENT OF WELLES BY RKO EXECUTIVES WHEN HE TRIED TO FILM A DOCUMENTARY IN BRAZIL THAT WANTED TO CELEBRATE THE CULTURAL CONTRIBUTION OF ITS BLACK COMMUNITY, AND ALSO BY THE WAY THAT THEY RECUT "THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS" W/O HIS PERMISSION & THEN DUMPED IT AS THE SECOND HALF OF A DOUBLE BILL (ALTHOUGH, FOR SOME REASON, THE FILM NEGLECTED TO MENTION THAT THE FIRST HALF OF THAT DOUBLE BILL WAS A LONG FORGOTTEN LUPE VELEZ FILM CALLED "MEXICAN HAYRIDE"). I'M JUST SORRY THAT I WASN'T AT THE SCREENING THAT HIS DAUGHTER, CHRIS FEDER ATTENDED. I REMEMBER SEEING HER AT A PANEL DISCUSSION AT THE OLD MUSEUM OF BROADCASTING BACK IN APRIL, 1988. WHEN THE MEMBERS OF THE PANEL SAID THAT HIS CAREER STARTED TO DECLINE AFTER HIS ESTRANGEMENT FROM JOHN HOUSEMAN, MS. FEDER MADE A VERY IMPASSIONED DEFENSE OF ALL THAT HE HAD ACCOMPLISHED AFTER THE BREAK WITH MR. HOUSEMAN, AND I HAD THE PLEASURE OF MEETING HER AFTER THE PANEL DISCUSSION, AND TELLING HER HOW MUCH I LIKED WHAT SHE HAD SAID IN HIS DEFENSE. I ALSO ONCE HAD THE PLEASURE OF MEETING RUTH WARRICK AFTER SHE WAS INTERVIWED AT THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE AFTR A SCREENING OF ONE OF HER OTHER FILMS, "DAISY KENYON." WHEN SHE SPOKE ABOUT THE FILMING OF "CITIZEN KANE," SHE SAID THAT HE WAS ALWAYS VERY GRACIOUS TOWARDS HER, BUT ALWAYS LESS THAN GRACIOUS TO SUSAN COMMINGORE. SHE ADDED THAT WHEN SHE OBJECTED TO HIS TREATMENT OF MS. COMMINGORE, HE TOLD HER, "OH, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. THIS GIRL ISNT A REAL ACTRESS. IN ORDER TO GET THE PERFORMANCE FROM HER THAT I WANT, I HAVE TO GET HER TO HATE ME." WITH ALL DUE RESPECT TO MR. WELLES, I WISH HE COULD HAVE FOUND ANOTHER WAY TO GET THAT PERFORMANCE FROM MS. COOMINGORE.