Orson Welles' screenwriting Oscar for Citizen Kane, considered by some the greatest story ever told on film, is set to be auctioned by its current owner, the Los Angeles-based charity Dax Foundation, next December.
Produced and directed by Welles, the 1941 classic also received nominations for best picture and best director, but lost in both instances to John Ford's How Green Was My Valley.
Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz shared the screenplay Oscar for Citizen Kane, the story of a greedy tycoon — inspired by William Randolph Hearst — who discovers that money doesn't bring happiness and that untalented mistresses shouldn't be pushed to opera stardom. (Hearst's mistress, however, was quite talented. Marion Davies was an excellent comedienne.)
The Academy frowns upon the buying and selling of Oscars, but can't prevent Welles' statuette from being sold. Only post-1950 Oscar winners are contractually obligated to not sell their trophies.
Welles' Citizen Kane Oscar — the only one the actor-producer-director-screenwriter ever won — is estimated to fetch between US$800,000 and $1.2 million.
Not a bad deal for those selling the Oscar given to what many think is the greatest movie ever made. The Academy must have been fuming.