Donald Trump has revealing things to say about the movie everyone compares him to
Trump's brash and bullying tone has been compared to Biff Tannen in the "Back to the Future" franchise (Hillary Clinton's campaign even included the character in an ad on Trump). Then there are his explosive rally speeches that echo how the Andy Griffith character Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes is seen in Elia Kazan's "A Face in the Crowd."
But the one character that Trump gets compared to the most is Charles Foster Kane in Orson Welles' legendary movie "Citizen Kane," frequently hailed as the greatest American movie ever. Loosely based on the life and career of William Randolph Hearst, it follows a wealthy ego-driven businessman (played by Welles) who attempts to enter politics.
In it, Trump, rather calmly and insightfully, discusses what he thinks the themes of the movie are:
"You learn in 'Kane' maybe wealth isn't everything, because he had the wealth but he didn't have the happiness," Trump said. "In real life I believe that wealth does in fact isolate you from other people. It's a protective mechanism - you have your guard up much more so [than] if you didn't have wealth."
Specifically, Trump discusses a scene in "Kane" when the camera pulls back to reveal a long table with Kane on one end and his wife at the other. Trump sees that as Welles showing Kane growing further apart from her as he gained his wealth.
"Perhaps I can understand that," Trump said.
And when Morris, from behind the camera, asks Trump the one piece of advice he would have given Kane, the businessman responds, "Get yourself a different woman."
But Morris didn't want to just interview Trump about "Citizen Kane" - he wanted the real-estate mogul to play Kane.
According to Morris' website, in "The Movie Movie" the director was going to film Trump (and other notable people at the time, like Mikhail Gorbachev) in movies they admire. Here's a sample of the aborted script: