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xi 0RZ]^f[TSV\T]cb I first saw Citizen Kane in the now-defunct Key Theatre in Washington, D.C., and I am happy to say I skipped out of work early to go see it. It made a strong impression on me, enough so that when I visited the Lilly Library in Bloomington, Indiana, on a fishing expedition for another project, I made sure to take a look at the Welles Manuscripts. I could not believe the richness of materials related to Welles’s RKO years, particularly all the projects that never made it into theaters. When I mentioned the amount of information on Welles’s unfinished projects to my mother, she blithely said, “That’s a book waiting to happen.” That made it sound like this project was inevitable, a gift my mother had for duping me into serious work. I also believe that as old theaters like the Key disappear, the next generation of film scholars is far more likely to see Welles’s work in fragmentary form, on DVDs, on the Internet, and in media forms that I can only imagine. This book reflects that belief, and I hope the next generation of film scholars will be able to love the old forms of cinema even as they discover new modes of media entertainment. Projects like this simply cannot happen without financial support, and this book was generously supported by two Lilly Library Helm Fellowships , several grants from the Marymount University Faculty Development Committee, a Maurice Mednick Fellowship from the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, and a “We the People” Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. I am deeply indebted to the gracious hospitality and formidable knowledge of the librarians at the Lilly Library and the Special Collections of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. In particular , Kathleen Dow, Peggy Daub, Sarah Rentz, and Breon Mitchell were very helpful in granting permission to publish excerpts and helping prepare images from the archives. Karl Kageff, Wayne Larsen, Kristine Priddy, and Barb Martin of Southern Illinois University Press provided valued support and comments that greatly improved the final product as well. At every stage of the writing process, I was given excellent feedback from a variety of colleagues and friends. The conversations I had with Sherri Smith, Doug Mao, Daniel Bernardi, Courtney Lehmann, and Frank Chorba about the project were as illuminating and rewarding as the research itself. My deepest thanks to Scott Newstok and Dudley Andrew for inviting me to join xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS the “Transnational Welles” conference at Yale University in 2006, where my conversations with Michael Anderegg, Catherine Benamou, Leslie Weisman, and James Naremore—who had already deepened my love of cinema studies as a graduate student—and others helped refine my ideas and expand my knowledge of Welles. My writing group of Janine DeWitt, Carolyn Oxenford, Jacquelyn Porter, Barbara Kinney, and Marcia Dursi helped me rephrase my argument at several junctures to reach a broader audience, and Ulrich Knoepflmacher and John Glavin offered timely feedback on chapter 2 in particular. I greatly miss the astute comments of the late Mary Lane on both writing and teaching, and one could not have asked for a better mentor in all things than Stephen Watt. I feel fortunate to work as part of a department that cares deeply for each other and offers the collegiality that helps one in every aspect of life. Sean Hoare, well known in my department as the best editor around, read over several chapters with patience and insight. Lillian Bisson, George McLoone, Susan Fay, Susan Heumann, Nyla Carney, Rosemary Hubbard, Tonya Howe, Laura Valdez-Pagliaro, and Karen Waters were always ready with supportive comments and a glass of wine when needed. In addition, the manuscript benefited at every phase from the assistance of graduate students, including Andrea Rutan, Galina Palyvian, Emily Dewey, Katharine Torrey, A. Michelle Bolger, Megan Devers, Jennifer Elena, Rebecca Gibbs Jones, Snezana Pavlovic , and Mary Nyingi. Many other colleagues and friends offered support and ideas as well along the way, including Teresa Reed, Brian Doyle, Meg Mulrooney, Chris Snyder, Hazel Sirett, and Norah Falcon. Of course family pays the greatest price for a project like this, and I am blessed to be part of an unerringly supportive, if eccentric, clan. All the Rippys , including both Conrads, Felix, and my parents, Merrill and Frances, are woven deeply into the pages of this book. Conrad Mayhew even helped with final...

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