“A neurotic drinker and a compulsive gambler, he was also one of the most intelligent, informed, witty, humane and charming men I have ever known.”
– John Houseman (Producer) on Herman Mankiewicz
As there is another review in this edition, of Citizen Kane, it seemed also suitable to cover the more recent story of it’s screenwriter, Herman J. Mankiewicz (the Mank of the title), in particular during the writing of that particular, now classic, movie gem.
Having been given a creative carte blanche for his first movie, Orson Welles, recruits Mank to write him a screenplay to suit his entrée into the world 0f film, while graduating from theatre and radio.
Mank obliges but with an outline that John Houseman (producer) feels is a might challenging for the average movie-goer and recommends simplification. Mank’s brother sees trouble in the script from the infamous (and litigious) publisher William Randolph Hearst on whom it seems almost certainly to be based. Fending off both these influence in various ways Mank expands and revisits the script in detail, gradually seeing it bloom into it’s full glory while recuperating, bedridden from a car accident.
The supporting cast are many and varied but it is of particular interest in the number and depth of the female characters around Mank. They become the way his personality is captured and he seems far more human, pleasant and thoughtful in their company. They don’t exist only to mirror him though and are fully formed characters themselves.
The look and feel of the times seem well-captured, not least with the use of black and white footage with a very suitable, similar-to-1940s contrast profile. No doubt, this is something that can be programmed into an edit package these days but nonetheless it is powerful, effective and yet subtle in its suggestion and execution.
Various versions of Citizen Kane’s script development seem to exist giving more and less credit to Mank and to Welles depending on who you read or listen to but I’m tempted to say that I feel this version seems to have a ring of (at least near) truth. It may be hard for younger watchers to appreciate but many of us remember Orson Welles, and even in his later years hawking wine and cigars in adverts he was never, ever in doubt of his own absolute genius. Given his clout in 1941 and the desire of the studio to insist on him as a “wunderkind” it could have been expected to side heavily in backing Welles claim to retain the full writing credit. The fact that it agreed to Mank’s co-authorship credit and later joint Oscar for the screenplay seems to chime with this version.
Certificate: 12
2 hours 12 minutes
NETFLIX
Director: David Fincher
Screenplay: Jack Fincher
Cast: Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins
