Editing Joseph Cotten (section)

=== 1940–1949: Leading film roles ===
==== ''Citizen Kane'' (1941) ====
After the success of Welles's ''[[The War of the Worlds (1938 radio drama)|War of the Worlds]]'' 1938 [[Halloween]] radio broadcast, Welles gained a unique contract with [[RKO Pictures]]. The two-picture deal promised full creative control for the young director below an agreed budget limit, and Welles's intention was to feature the [[Mercury Theatre|Mercury Players]] in his productions. Shooting had still not begun on a Welles film after a year, but after a meeting with writer [[Herman J. Mankiewicz]] Welles had a suitable project.

In mid-1940, filming began on ''[[Citizen Kane]]'', portraying the life of a press magnate (played by Welles) who starts out as an idealist but eventually turns into a corrupt, lonely old man. The film featured Cotten prominently in the role of Kane's best friend [[Sources for Citizen Kane#Jedediah Leland|Jedediah Leland]], eventually a drama critic for one of Kane's papers.

When released on May 1, 1941, ''Citizen Kane'' – based in part on the life of newspaper magnate [[William Randolph Hearst]]– did not do much business at theaters; Hearst owned numerous major newspapers, and forbade them to carry advertisements for the film. Nominated for nine [[Academy Awards]] in 1942, the film won only for Best Screenplay, for Mankiewicz and Welles. ''Citizen Kane'' launched the film careers of the Mercury Players, including [[Agnes Moorehead]] (who played Kane's mother), [[Ruth Warrick]] (Kane's first wife), and [[Ray Collins (actor)|Ray Collins]] (Kane's political opponent). However, Cotten was the only one of the four to find major success as a lead in Hollywood outside of ''Citizen Kane''; Moorehead and Collins became successful character film actors. Moorehead starred in Bewitched and Warrick spent decades in a career in daytime television, specifically [[All My Children]].

The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', in an otherwise mixed review of the film, said that "Cotten's work is vital and distinctive ... He is an important 'find.'"<ref name="schallert19410509">{{Cite news |last=Schallert |first=Edwin |date=1941-05-09 |title=Welles' 'Citizen Kane' Revolutionary Film |language=en |pages=18 |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/380773599/ |access-date=2023-04-11 |archive-date=February 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218233800/https://www.newspapers.com/image/380773599/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Alexander Korda]] hired him to play [[Merle Oberon]]'s leading man in ''[[Lydia (film)|Lydia]]'' (1941). "I didn't care about the movies, really", Cotten said later. "I was tall. I had curly hair. I could talk. It was easy to do."<ref name="los"/>

==== ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' (1942) ====
Cotten starred in Welles's adaptation and production of ''[[The Magnificent Ambersons (film)|The Magnificent Ambersons]]'' (1942). After the commercial disappointment of ''Citizen Kane'', RKO was apprehensive about the new film, and after poor preview responses, cut it by nearly an hour before its release. Though at points the film appeared disjointed, it was well received by critics. Despite the critical accolades Cotten received for his performance, he was again snubbed by the academy.

==== ''Journey into Fear'' (1943) ====
Cotten was cast in the World War II spy thriller ''[[Journey into Fear (1943 film)|Journey into Fear]]'' (1943) based on the novel by [[Eric Ambler]]. It was originally scripted by [[Ben Hecht]] but Welles, who was supervising, disliked it, and rewrote it with Cotten.<ref>{{cite news| title= Welles Actor Teamed With Michèle Morgan: John Carroll Borrowed New ...| last= Schallert| first= Edwin | work= Los Angeles Times | date= April 26, 1941| page= A9}}</ref> Released by RKO, the Mercury production was directed by [[Norman Foster (director)|Norman Foster]]. It was a collaborative effort due to the difficulties shooting the film and the pressures related to Welles' imminent departure to South America to begin work on ''[[It's All True (film)|It's All True]]''.<ref name="TIOW">{{cite book| last1= Welles| first1= Orson| first2= Peter |last2= Bogdanovich| editor= [[Jonathan Rosenbaum]]| title= [[This is Orson Welles]]| place= New York| publisher= HarperCollins | year= 1992 | isbn= 0-06-016616-9}}</ref>{{Rp|165, 377}}<ref>{{cite news| title= Screen News Here and in Hollywood: MGM May Lend Wallace Beery to ... | first= Douglas W. | last= Churchill| work= The New York Times | date= July 29, 1941| page= 19}}</ref>

[[Alfred Hitchcock]] cast Cotten as a charming serial killer in ''[[Shadow of a Doubt]]'' (1943).<ref name=classic/> It was made for Universal Pictures, for whom Cotten then appeared in ''[[Hers to Hold]]'' (1943), as [[Deanna Durbin]]'s leading man.

After Welles's return, he and Cotten co-produced ''[[The Mercury Wonder Show]]'' for members of the U.S. armed services. Opening August 3, 1943, the all-star magic and variety show was presented in a tent at 9000 Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood. Featured were Welles (Orson the Magnificent), Cotten (Jo-Jo the Great), [[Rita Hayworth]] (forced to quit by [[Columbia Pictures]] boss [[Harry Cohn]] and replaced by [[Marlene Dietrich]]), [[Agnes Moorehead]] (Calliope Aggie) and others. Tickets were free to servicemen, and more than 48,000 of them had seen show by September 1943.<ref name="TIOW"/>{{Rp|177, 377–378}}

In late 1943, Cotten visited Welles's office and said that producer [[David O. Selznick]] wanted to make two or three films with him, but that he wanted him under his own contract. Welles then tore up Cotten's contract with Mercury Productions, saying, "He can do more for you than I can. Good luck!"<ref name="Whaley">[http://www.lybrary.com/barton-whaley-m-191.html Whaley, Barton] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407122754/http://www.lybrary.com/barton-whaley-m-191.html |date=April 7, 2016 }}, ''Orson Welles: The Man Who Was Magic''. Lybrary.com, 2005,</ref>{{Rp|186}} Cotten signed a long-term deal with Selznick. Selznick loaned out Cotten and [[Ingrid Bergman]] to [[MGM]] for the thriller ''[[Gaslight (1944 film)|Gaslight]]'' (1944), which was a major hit. Selznick then put Cotten in the wartime drama ''[[Since You Went Away]]'' (1944) alongside [[Claudette Colbert]], [[Jennifer Jones]] and [[Shirley Temple]], which was another major success.<ref name="tom">[https://books.google.com/books?id=dwf5SUcfousC&pg=PA190 Thomas Schatz, ''Boom and Bust: American Cinema in the 1940s'' University of California Press, 1999. p. 190] accessed January 1, 2014</ref>

Selznick followed this up by teaming Cotten with [[Ginger Rogers]] and Temple in ''[[I'll Be Seeing You (1944 film)|I'll Be Seeing You]]'' (1945), another melodrama. [[Hal Wallis]] borrowed Cotten and Jones to make ''[[Love Letters (1945 film)|Love Letters]]'' (1945). Exhibitors voted him the 17th most popular star in the United States in 1945.<ref>"Bing Crosby Again Box-Office Leader: Van Johnson Second in Film Poll of Exhibitors{{spaced ndash}} Rogers Wins for Westerns". ''[[The New York Times]]''. December 28, 1945. p. 21.</ref> Selznick used Cotten, Jennifer Jones and [[Gregory Peck]] in ''[[Duel in the Sun (film)|Duel in the Sun]]'' (1946), an epic Western that was hugely popular at the box office.

[[Dore Schary]], who had worked for Selznick, went to run RKO and hired Cotten for ''[[The Farmer's Daughter (1947 film)|The Farmer's Daughter]]'' (1947), where he was [[Loretta Young]]'s leading man. Cotten then made ''[[Portrait of Jennie]]'' (1948) for Selznick, co starring with Jones; Cotten played a melancholy artist who becomes obsessed with a girl who might have died many years before. His performance won Cotten the International Prize for Best Actor at the 1949 Venice International Film Festival.<ref>{{cite news|title=Joseph Cotten;Obituary|work=The Times|location=London|date=Feb 8, 1994}}</ref>

==== ''The Third Man'' (1949) ====
Cotten was reunited with Welles in [[Carol Reed]]'s ''[[The Third Man]]'' (1949), produced by Korda and Selznick. Cotten portrays a writer of [[pulp magazine|pulp fiction]] who travels to postwar [[Vienna]] to meet his friend Harry Lime (Welles). When he arrives, he is told that Lime has died. Determined to prove to the police that his friend was murdered, he uncovers an even darker secret.{{refn|Welles and Cotten remained close friends until Welles's death in 1985. According to Welles, Cotten was always uncomfortable as a leading man and preferred to play supporting or [[character actor|character]] roles.<ref name=Biskind>{{cite book| editor-first= Peter |editor-last= Biskind | title= My Lunches with Orson: Conversations Between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles| publisher= Macmillan | year= 2013}}</ref>}} Years later, Cotten would recall that "Orson Welles lists ''Citizen Kane'' as his best film, Alfred Hitchcock opts for ''Shadow of a Doubt'', and Sir Carol Reed chose ''The Third Man'' – and I'm in all of them."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://quotlr.com/quotes-about-orson | title=40+ Mind-blowing Orson Quotes That Will Unlock Your True Potential | access-date=May 15, 2022 | archive-date=May 28, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528232917/https://quotlr.com/quotes-about-orson | url-status=dead }}</ref>

Cotten then reunited with Hitchcock and Ingrid Bergman in ''[[Under Capricorn]]'' (1949)<ref name=classic/> as an Australian landowner with a shady past; it was a box office disappointment. So too was ''[[Beyond the Forest]]'' (1949) with [[Bette Davis]] at Warner Bros.<ref>{{cite news|title=Selznick Stars to do Movies for Warners|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 21, 1949|page=18}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=News of the Screen|author=Thomas F. Bradys|work=[[The New York Times]] June 22, 1948|page=22}}</ref>