Editing Joseph Cotten (section)

==== ''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"/>