10 Movies That Lied So Much They Told The Truth
6. Citizen Kane
It's not much of a secret that Citizen Kane's protagonist, Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), is not-so-loosely based on media baron William Randolph Hearst.
Well aware that Hearst's deep pockets could sue him into oblivion, Welles not only renamed his protagonist to Kane but also included a line in the film where Hearst's name is mentioned in comparison to Kane, making it abundantly clear in every legal sense that they are two different people.
This was basically an act of insurance on Welles' part, that if Hearst ever took legal action against him, he could point to this line of dialogue which makes it clear beyond any doubt that Hearst is an entirely separate entity.
But at the same time, this allowed Welles to basically have his cake and eat it too, producing a quasi-biopic of Hearst's life while legally protected under the assertion that any resemblance to Hearst's own life is purely coincidental. Perfect plausible deniability.
Other incidental aspects of Hearst's story were changed to create an added level of critical distance from him, yet the broad facts of Citizen Kane's story are largely in step with Hearst's life.
By presenting a superficial facade of invention, Welles was able to produce a more honest Hearst biopic to any audience member who realised what he was doing.