Citizen Kane: Exposing the Truth about William Randolph Hearst Essay

Citizen Kane: Exposing the Truth about William Randolph Hearst Many have called Citizen Kane the greatest cinematic achievement of all time. It is indeed a true masterpiece of acting, screen writing, and directing. Orson Welles, its young genius director, lead actor, and a co-writer, used the best talents and techniques of the day (Bordwell 103) to tell the story of a newspaper giant, Charles Kane, through the eyes of the people who loved and hated him. However, when it came out, it was scorned by Hollywood and viewed only in the private theaters of RKO, the producer. Nominated for nine Academy Awards, it was practically booed off the stage, and only won one award, that for Best Screenplay, which Welles and Herman Mankiewicz shared (Mulvey 10). This was all due to the pressure applied by the greatest newspaper man of the time, one of the most powerful men in the nation, the man Citizen Kane portrayed as a corrupt power monger, namely William Randolph Hearst. One cannot ignore the striking similarities between Hearst and Kane. In order to make clear at the outset exactly what he intended to do, Orson Welles included a few details about the young Kane that, given even a rudimentary knowledge of Hearst's life, would have set one thinking about the life of that newspaper giant. Shortly after the film opens, a reporter is seen trying to discover the meaning of Kane's last word, "Rosebud." He begins his search by going through the records of Kane's boyhood guardian, Thatcher. The scene comes to life in midwinter at the Kane boarding house. Kane's mother has come into one of the richest gold mines in the world through a defaulting boarder, and at age twenty-five, Kane will inherit his sixty million dollars (Citizen Kane)... ...r himself by abusing the most potent weapon and shield of his day, the free press. "If I hadn't been very rich, I might have been a really great man." (Orson Welles, Citizen Kane) Bibliography 1)Bordwell, David. "Citizen Kane," Focus on Orson Welles. Prentice-Hall,1976. 2)Cowie, Peter. The Cinema of Orson Welles. De Capo Press, 1973. 3)Citizen Kane. dir. Orson Welles. With Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore. RKO, 1941. 4)Mulvey, Laura. Citizen Kane. BFI, 1992. 5)Reflections on Citizen Kane. dir. Unknown. Turner Home Entertainment,1991. 6)Robinson, Judith. The Hearsts: an American Dynasty. Avon Books, 1991. 7)Swanberg, W.A. Citizen Hearst. Scribner, 1961. Bantam Matrix Edition, 1967. 8)Zinman, David. Fifty Classic Motion Pictures: The Stuff that Dreams are Made Of. NY Crown Publishers, 1970. NY Limelight Editions, 1992.

Leadership strategy that supports organizational direction Essay

Organizations need leadership strategies in order to create confidence for employees and other stakeholders that there is a clear direction in which the organization aims to head. Understanding leadership culture is the first stage to creating an effective leadership strategy; the next step is to assess the relationship between staff and their leaders and bring emotional intelligence into play, this will become a necessity for leaders in creating their strategies (Gordon n.d). The retail store Diamond relies on different leadership and management theories but the selected theory of discussion is the Open Systems Theory. The impacts of different theories of management and leadership used within the retail industry is countless. A retail company like Diamond utilizes multiple theories in order to achieve their organizational goal but the dominating theory is the Systems Theory. Setting strategies relies on a time frame, and as such elements and resources must be allotted within the set time. The preeminent strategy that supports organizational direction is recognizing the culture which Diamond operates and the dominant leadership style. The Open Systems Theory allows managers to examine patterns and events in the workplace and will be helpful in coordinating agendas to work as a group for the complete goal or mission of the business rather than for insulated departments in achieving the organizational goals and keeping progress on track (Hawthorne 2015). This allows Diamond to manage and control its budget and will make a considerable amount of profit for the organization. Leaders who rely on emotional intelligence will take into account the feelings and needs of the staff and other stakeholders within Diamond. Being compassionate to staff and stakeholder allows the leader to connect with and grow a relationship throughout the organization, thus creating synergy. The leader can make an assessment on their thoughts on Diamond, how the leader can improve the company so they enjoy working there. This tactic will be helpful due to the fact that this is a motivational exercise and staff will gain a sense of belonging and pride. Staff will work more diligently, productivity will inevitably increase and profit will be maximized. Granted, this new leadership strategy with take some time to implement and be fully functional but with the use of a good change management model, the transition will feel  natural to the staff over a period of time. Reference Gordon, Jon. ‘Developing Positive Leaders, Organizations And Teams’. Jon Gordon Blog. Web. 22 Mar. 2015. Hawthorne, Madison. ‘Management Theories & Concepts At The Workplace’. Small Business – Chron.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.

Benito Mussolini Course of Life

Benito Mussolini: Course of Life Benito Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883 in Dovia di Predappio village, which is located in Northeastern Italia. There were two more kids in the family. Thus, Benito wasn’t alone and had a sister named Edvige and a brother named Armaldo. Little kids used to fight for different pretty things, but still they lived happily. Benito was brought up in an intelligent family, as his mother Rosa Malteni was a highly respected teacher at local school. The father of the boy, Allesandro Mussolini, a blacksmith and a committee socialist, was strong and brave person. The name Benito, which was given to the boy, came from the Mexican Revolutionary Juarez. Nevertheless, Benito grew up without any sort of manners and what is more, felonious and ill-behaved. Benito was constantly bullying the other kids at school and as a result he was the participant of every possible fight with children. The childhood of internationally famous dictator passed in one of the poorest regions. When he was a schoolboy, he has always been very quiet and never trusted his classmates. Every single thought, each feeling he kept to himself, which is why nobody could ever get into close contact with the boy. It was impossible to call him a class mixer. Benito has never wanted to become a sort of clown, which is why he never laughed. Nobody ever saw him on the front part of the class. Benito spent his school years at the back of the classroom reading a book or mused upon something known to him only. Playing with the other kids wasn’t of a special interest for him. Benito was growing up being surrounded by many political philosophers, who didn’t even realize the moment, when they urged him on the first thoughts concerning socialism, anarchism and other rebellious thoughts. To cut the long story short, Benito had very aggressive and violent temper. To my mind, the personality of sadistic leader, who used tyranny, incarceration and even assassination in order to keep power in his hands, was formed in very auspicious conditions, which is a clear evidence that family influence is original and deep-rooted.