CITIZENS GET NEW LOOK AT `KANE'.

Byline: David Kronke TV Critic

It requires major chutzpah to make a movie about the making of what is arguably the greatest film of all time; the very real danger is that the filmmakers will spend the entire running time of their effort inadvertently underscoring just how brilliant the original truly was. So give points for hubris to the team behind ``RKO 281,'' an HBO docudrama about the obstacle-laden road that led to ``Citizen Kane,'' Orson Welles' enduring masterpiece.

Liev Schreiber stars as Welles, who was a mere 24 when he co-wrote, directed and starred in ``Kane,'' but as the film opens, he's already considered a has-been. His successes in radio and theater landed him a sweetheart Hollywood deal, but he's suffering from a vague paralysis - months upon months have passed and all he has to show his studio, RKO, is a string of projects that died in development. All he knows for sure is that he absolutely does not want to make the film version of his radio smash, ``The War of the Worlds.''

``Kane'' was a thinly veiled retelling of the life of publishing overlord William Randolph Hearst (James Cromwell), who spent his inheritance buying a chain of newspapers and lately had befriended such dubious leaders as Mussolini. ``RKO 281'' fictitiously has Welles meeting and quickly offending Hearst at one of the latter's famous dinner parties at San Simeon, which in turn inspires him to take Hearst on cinematically. In fact, Welles never visited San Simeon - his first wife had married the nephew of Hearst's mistress, Marian Davies (played here by Melanie Griffith), so if any such invitation had been considered it was no doubt quickly squelched to prevent an awkward scene. But Herman Mankiewicz (John Malkovich), who wrote the first draft of ``Kane,'' had been to San Simeon, and had - thanks to his battle with the bottle - subsequently been scratched off the invite list, which created a pool of bitterness that he no doubt poured enthusiastically into his writing.

As a first-time filmmaker, Welles is prone to goofs - he trashes a camera and digs up the floor of a soundstage to get a shot he wants - but he's also, in one bold stroke, redefining cinema. And he manages to shoot ``Kane'' in utter secrecy - when Hearst finally finds out what the film is about, he hears not from his gossip columnist, Louella Parsons (Brenda Blethyn), but from her competitor, Hedda Hopper (Fiona Shaw).

Once Hearst gets the message, though, Hollywood is under siege. Hearst threatens to expose the seamier side of Hollywood's moguls and stars; at one point, the other studios offer to buy ``Kane'' from RKO, just to destroy it and mollify Hearst. Welles is particularly miffed by the on-again, off-again support he gets from RKO studio chief George Schaefer (Roy Scheider), who's never sure if his tyro auteur is more passionate about his film and the First Amendment or just indulging in some hard-core self-aggrandizement.

Performances are largely terrific, and certainly, an impressive cast has been assembled. Schreiber invests considerable thought into Welles' blustery moments, and Cromwell works hard to find the human touches in the monstrous Hearst. Director Benjamin Ross (``The Young Poisoner's Handbook'') opted to shoot the film in London, with splendid results - the locations found to stand in for San Simeon are lavish, and in general the film has a bit of a fairy-tale look to it. There are a few clever visual homages to ``Kane'' thrown in at odd angles in this film.

Still, the film clocks in at well under 90 minutes, and feels a bit thin for all its swagger. There's much backstage drama it misses - for example, Welles loved Charles Foster Kane while Mankiewicz hated him, which had to have led to some interesting dynamics in the making of the movie. And for all its acclaim, ``Kane'' was fairly snubbed at the Oscar ceremony, which must have been both humbling and irritating to Welles.

Mainly, though, the film doesn't quite nail the connection between ``Kane'' and Welles himself - in a way, Kane came to resemble Welles more than Hearst, something that Hearst himself obliquely observes to his nemesis in a nice moment late in the movie. To have created such a work at the age of 24 must have been overwhelming, even to Welles. But to have largely been punished for it provoked a chagrin and distrust that affected the rest of his career, which though long and celebrated, was never able to fulfill that early promise.

The facts

The show: ``RKO 281''

What: Docudrama about the making of the Orson Welles masterpiece ``Citizen Kane.''

The stars: Liev Schreiber, John Malkovich, James Cromwell, Melanie Griffith, Brenda Blethyn, Roy Scheider.

Where: HBO.

When: 9 tonight.

Our rating: Three stars.

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Photo

Photo: Liev Schreiber plays legendary filmmaker Orson Welles in the HBO docudrama, ``RKO 281.''