Orson Welles’ 1941 film, Citizen Kane, has grown to be a remarkably influential pillar of modern cinema. The contents of the film are generally based on the life of American news tycoon William Randolph Hearst. The majority of the film focuses on the rise and fall of Charles Foster Kane, but the opening and closing of the film return to Kane’s opulent estate, Xanadu. When I was watching Citizen Kane for the first time, the grand boasting of Xanadu immediately demonstrated just how direct the comparisons between Kane and Hearst would be throughout the film.

After the brief sequence of Kane’s final moments at the beginning, the film shows a newsreel describing his life and highlighting his death, “News on the March”. The filmmakers use this sequence to extensively highlight the various features of Kane’s mansion. Immediately, I drew the obvious parallels between Xanadu and Hearst Castle, the real life estate of William Randolph Hearst that was so magnificent it has become a museum today.

Similar to Charles Foster Kane, William Randolph Hearst inherited a remarkable sum of money from his parents and made it into an empire of inconceivable scale. One of the items Hearst inherited from his father, who struck his fortune in the California Gold Rush, was tens of thousands of acres of land in Northern California. Over time, as Hearst grew more and more prosperous he continued to buy more land, ending up with 250,000 acres to his name, which dwarfed even the 49,000 acre figure Kane ends up owning in the film. In 1919, once he inherited the initial 40,000 acres and a whopping 10 million dollars with it, Hearst hired architect Julia Morgan to design his grand getaway. Just like Xanadu, the castle was never finished entirely, with various features being erected all the way up until 1947, four years before Hearst’s death.

Welles makes some obvious parallels between Xanadu and Hearst Castle, to ensure the audience knows exactly the comparison he is trying to make. The most memorable, for me, was the inclusion of a private zoo in the film’s fictitious mansion. Like Xanadu, Hearst Castle boasted the largest private zoo in the world, complete with elephants, jaguars, orangutans, and polar bears, to name a few. When the stock market crashed in the ‘30s, Hearst had to disassemble much of his collection, donating or selling most of his animal possessions. Some of the herbivores, such as the numerous zebras, were left however, and they can still be seen roaming near Californian highways in San Simeon today. In the film it stipulates Kane had a private zoo and even an aquarium, something Hearst’s estate never had (though it had aquatic species like seals). I hypothesize that Welles kept this aspect of Hearst Castle to highlight not only the wealth of Kane, but also his childish nature. Hearst was described by one of his guests, Winston Churchill, as a “grave simple child – with no doubt a nasty temper – playing with the most costly toys.”. As such, I think Welles included the details about Xanadu’s zoo to emphasize the sense of immaturity around Kane and to accurately parallel William Randolph Hearst.

A difference between Xanadu and Hearst Castle that stood out to me was the style of architecture. Hearst Castle, sometimes called La Casa Grande (Spanish for The Big House), is constructed in the Mediterranean Revivalist Style, with clear Spanish influence in many of its features. Xanadu, however, features a much more intimidating Gothic design. I think this decision by Welles reflects his desire to highlight the menacing nature of Kane and his legacy. Hearst Castle is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever had the privilege of seeing, though I formulated this opinion before I knew of Hearst’s controversial past. Xanadu, on the other hand, seems to have a more frightening nature, and the harsh design makes it much less tasteful, in my eyes, than Hearst Castle. Despite this obvious difference between the two, both mansions are constructed to resemble cathedrals, keeping with the theme of highlighting just how rich Kane was.

A detail that Welles made sure to highlight near the movie’s end was how Xanadu was dismantled after Kane’s death. Whether it was a prediction for what would happen to Hearst’s estate or not, Welles was wrong about what would happen after the death of a figure like Hearst, who was aging but alive in 1941. In real life, as mentioned earlier, Hearst Castle has become a historic site and museum, with much of its interior and features painstakingly preserved, even a century after it began construction. I do not think this decision was necessarily a reflection of Hearst’s character, but more so a testament to the value and significance of his art collection, such as the 18th century Italian fresco he had installed in the ceiling of his great room. I wonder what Welles thought of the decision to preserve, rather than dismantle, La Casa Grande after Hearst’s death in 1951.

What did you think of Xanadu? How do you think it compares to Hearst Castle? What other similarities or differences between William Randolph Hearst and Charles Foster Kane stood out to you?