The screenwriter took a story already rife with drama and added needless events that didn't happen, and this needless meddling will probably lead too many viewers to think that the entire story is a Hollywood concoction. However, from my reading over the years, the sensationalistic tidbit about the meaning of Rosebud is true. The best performance in the film is by Melanie Griffith as Marion Davies. While John Malkovich is also very good, the fact that he looks nothing like Herman Manckiewicz is distracting. But Hearst was as bad as portrayed by James Cromwell, and the two talentless harpies Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper were just as hideous as they are portrayed.
