SOURCE: "Scripting," in The Making of Citizen Kane, University of California Press, 1985, pp. 16-35.

In the following excerpt, much of which reiterates factual information uncovered by Carringer in a Winter 1978 essay in Critical Inquiry, Carringer examines Mankiewicz's script American, which was the original draft of Citizen Kane, to support his thesis that Welles and Mankiewicz deserve equal credit for the screenplay.

Welles's first step toward the realization of Citizen Kane was to seek the assistance of a screenwriting professional. Fortunately, help was near at hand. Writing talent had always been in short supply in the Mercury operation because of the inexorable demands of the weekly radio shows. When Welles moved to Hollywood, it happened that a veteran screenwriter, Herman J. Mankiewicz, was recuperating from an automobile accident and between jobs. Mankiewicz was signed to write scripts for the Mercury's "Campbell Playhouse" radio program. When the opportunity to work...