The Making of Citizen Kane and the Music of Bernard Herrmann - An Interview with critic Roger L. Hall

On Tuesday, September 14, our local classic film club Reel Classics of Greater Boston is hosting a special virtual presentation on the making of Citizen Kane, with a special emphasis on the score by Bernard Herrmann. Our speaker is Roger L. Hall, composer, film music critic, preservationist, and writer. We're thrilled to celebrate this landmark film's 80th Anniversary with "Raising Kane - The Making of a Classic Film and Score." 

I had the opportunity to chat with Roger and ask him a bit about his experiences with the music of Bernard Herrmann and of course his love of Orson Welles' 1941 masterpiece. Excerpts from the interview are below.

Roger L. Hall

JD: If you could sum up Bernard Herrmann’s music or musical impact with a word or short phrase, how would you do it?

RH: It’s a tough one, but I would say ‘master of orchestration.’ He used the orchestra in novel ways in his scores. Think of the violins in the shower scene in Psycho, for example. He applied his unique use of instruments across a broad range of musical styles (classical to jazz) and from his earliest films to his last film that he scored, Martin Scorcese’s Taxi Driver. Amazingly, Herrmann insisted on doing his own orchestrations!

JD: Is there anything you’d like to be able to ask Herrmann today about a musical choice he made in one of his films?

RH: It probably wouldn’t be easy! Herrmann was a very difficult man to talk to. I was listening to an interview with him the other day, and he came across as very obstinate and argumentative. But given the chance I would love to ask him about many things especially about the orchestration in certain films. I find particularly interesting that his favorite films that he scored were ones in which the stories were compelling to him: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, for example, was his favorite film, and of course his score was beautiful in that film. He had lived in England and was very taken with British culture, especially in the 19^th century. He wrote an opera based on Wuthering Heights (the Emily Bronte novel). But beyond that, the stories themselves were very important to him. Even Taxi Driver and Obsession, his later films. If he liked the story, he put everything he had into the music.

Orson Welles speaks with Bernard Herrmann
(from bernardherrmann.org)

JD: What would be missing in the experience of Citizen Kane without the great score by Herrmann?

RH: Many of the great scenes are enhanced by the score, but particularly Herrmann aided Welles in the transitions between scenes. There are a lot of quick scenes in Citizen Kane, and a lot of them are done through the music, not dialogue. Without the music the scene cuts would be awkward and wouldn’t work well. This technique comes from radio in which scene transitions were cued with a musical flourish. Of course, Welles and Herrmann worked extensively in radio. I recently re-read NY Times critic Bosley Crowther’s review of the film, and even he, who rarely pointed out the music in a film, praised Herrmann’s score as being a critical element.

This is why I titled my tribute on the 75^th anniversary of the film Herrmann Raises Kane! (with apologies to Pauline Kael), because his music really adds that extra element that takes an already great film to the next higher plane. There aren’t too many films that you can say that about; Gone With The Wind is another (score by Max Steiner).

JD: I understand you have some personal connections to the film.

RH: Yes, I’ll tell my story about the sled during the presentation, but one other connection was a place where I went to school was filmed in the opening newsreel montage! I didn’t realize it when I first watched the film, but learned about it later – it’s Oheka Castle on Long Island where I attended Eastern Military Academy. I have speculated that the builder of Oheka Castle, Otto Kahn, could very well have been one of the inspirations for Charles Foster Kane, as he was Chairman of the Metropolitan Opera, wielded considerable power in New York, was a creditor of screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, and kept a mistress.

Oheka Castle, Long Island, NY (modern view)

Oheka Castle and grounds as seen in Citizen Kane

JD: What did you think about Mank (the 2020 film portrait by David Fincher of Herman Mankiewicz, who wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane with Orson Welles)?

RH: Frankly, I had trouble with it. It was interesting in places but there really wasn’t much to it. I also didn’t like the music at all (music by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross). But I’m glad that it brought timely focus again to this great film.

JD: Thanks so much, Roger! I’m looking forward to your presentation on Tuesday!

Check out Roger's special compilation of Herrmann excerpts from his 1941 films and related text files and radio programs that Roger participated in.