William Randolph Hearst

The extraordinary life of Orson Welles (1915-85), an enigma of Hollywood, an irreducible independent creator: a musical prodigy, an excellent painter, a master of theater and radio, a modern Shakespeare, a magician who was always searching for a new trick to surprise his audience, a romantic and legendary figure who lived only for cinema.

Documentary about the battle between Orson Welles and William Randolph Hearst over Welles' Citizen Kane (1941). Features interviews with Welles' and Hearst's co-workers also acts as a relatively complete biograph of Hearst's career.

Before the G, PG and R ratings system there was the Production Code, and before that there was, well, nothing. This eye-opening documentary examines the rampant sexuality of early Hollywood through movie clips and reminiscences by stars of the era. Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Marlene Dietrich and others relate tales of the artistic freedom that led to the draconian Production Code, which governed content from 1934 to 1968. Diane Lane narrates.

Documentary looking at Orson Welles and the production of the film CITIZEN KANE fifty years ago, considering the furore that accompanied it and the real life press baron William Randolph Hearst upon whom Kane is based, and his efforts to halt the film, destroy the negative and persecution of people involved with its production and showing. It includes BBC interviews with Welles made in 1960 and 1982, and film historian Robert Carringer looks at the scenes that never made it to the screen. American film critic Pauline Kael also analyses the film's enduring appeal. Extracts from "The RKO Story" (producer: Rosemary Wilton) and "Yesterday's Whitness" (producers: Christopher Cook and Stephen Peet).

Based on the comic strip Happy Hooligan, this cartoon was packaged with the Hearst-Vitagraph News Pictorial and shown before the main features in theaters.

Young Leon Kanter dreams of being a great violinist. His parents scrape up the money for a violin and for lessons, and Leon rewards them by becoming a great player. But as an adult, Leon finds that people want more from him than just music.

The dashing but arrogant Prince Michael Fedor Lubimoff has to flee Tsarist Russia after falling into disgrace and settles in Monte Carlo, where he resumes his life of debauchery while World War I ravages the fields of Europe… (Partially lost film; reels 3 and 9 of a total of 11 are missing.)

A political hack becomes President during the height of the Depression and undergoes a metamorphosis into an incorruptible statesman after a near-fatal accident.

Krazy Kat tries to serenade Ignatz Mouse.

An Irish girl comes to America disguised as a boy to claim a fortune left to her brother who has died.

It is 1774, the eve of the American War of Independence. Janice comes from a Tory household. She cavorts with American and British alike, is pursued by Charles Fownes, patriot and friend of General Washington.

An awkward teenager hopelessly in love with her older sister's boyfriend tries to make him notice her.

Krazy Kat and Ignatz Mouse go to the circus and have some fun at the expense of a spectator.

Two men plan to invite their friends, so they buy a turkey and ask Olaf to cook it. Olaf is distracted by the prospect of going to the dance this night. As a consequence, the turkey turns out to be not edible. The chef Louie is asked to make dinner for the boss, but the ice box is empty. He has to improvise.

Mamie, an orphan girl who was abused in the orphanage, is taken in by Mrs. Caldwell, a kindly woman with a young son named Alexander. Mamie hits it off with the lad, and nicknames him "Zander". When Mrs. Caldwell dies, the authorities decree that the boy must be placed in the same orphanage where Mamie was mistreated. Horrified, Mamie determines to see to it that the boy will be spared the same treatment that she had to suffer.

Based on the comic strip Happy Hooligan, this cartoon was packaged with the Hearst-Vitagraph News Pictorial and shown before the main features in theaters.

An exasperated traffic cop resigns after failing to control speeding drivers.

Spies from Japan conspire to steal the Channing "preparedness" fortune and invade the United States, beginning in New York, then allying themselves with Mexicans across the border. They are stopped by the efforts of munitions factory heiress Patria Channing and U.S. Secret Service agent Donald Parr.

A woman tries to lose weight.

A woman buys a new pair of shoes under the watchful eye of her husband. She takes them much too small for her and suffers all day long.

Workman Dennis O'Shay finds a woman's lost purse and returns it to her, hoping it may lead to a new romance.

This plea to reduce the growing numbers of imprisoned youths, with its warning from the celebrated warden of Sing Sing prison, is drawn from the October 1, 1934, issue of Hearst Metrotone News. The segment’s dynamic visuals, on-camera personal appeal, and extended length make the story atypical for a newsreel, but the form’s usual breathless pace is applied to a cautionary fable: the too-frequent “road” of youth from school through unemployment, homelessness, and crime and on to the gates of the penitentiary. -National Film Preservation Foundation

A newlywed in love finds it hard to leave his wife for work.

A man tries an hair tonic to regrow his hair. It works too well.

"Smash-Up in China" is a very early animated film. The story consists of the Hooligan telling the little hooligans about his supposed adventures in China. He saves the life of the Prime Minister, meets the Emperor and nearly gets himself blown up!

A Hearst Metrotone prohibition newsreel.

Prohibition has just gone into effect, and Judge Rummy's wife eagerly throws away all of the Judge's liquor. She also plans to have a temperance lecturer use him as an example of the evils of drink. While waiting for the lecturer, Judge Rummy notices that Silk Hat Harry's Soda Fountain is remarkably popular, so he stops in to see what it's all about. He finds out that Harry has developed a substitute for alcoholic drinks, and that Harry's substitute can have quite an effect on those who drink it.

Based on the Happy Hooligan comic strips.