How did Orson Welles's radio career shape Citizen Kane, according to Ian Christie?

Ian Christie argues radio taught Welles to move a story very fast without wasting time on setups, and that he carried this pace into Citizen Kane, which was new for Hollywood. John David Rhodes adds that Welles had condensed classics such as Les Misérables for CBS, often narrating himself. Rhodes also hears radio in the declamatory acting, and argues the film's mix of radio, theatre and cinema is what makes it exciting rather than a flaw.

• Christie says Welles taught himself by repeatedly watching John Ford's 1939 film Stagecoach.
• Christie sees Citizen Kane as anticipating the film noir detective pictures that followed.

▸In their words

“So it moves like one of his radio dramas.” Ian Christie · at 28:38 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on In Our Time (2026-11-02). Read the whole episode summary →

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