[On the RKO studio:] This is the biggest electric train set any boy ever had.

Welles’s remark likens a major Hollywood studio to an oversized toy, capturing the intoxicating sense of possibility a filmmaker can feel when given access to industrial-scale resources—soundstages, crews, cameras, sets, and budgets. The “electric train set” metaphor suggests both wonder and control: like a child arranging tracks and switches, a director can orchestrate complex movements and effects, making an entire world run on cue. At the same time, the boyish comparison hints at the precariousness of such power—play can be mistaken for mastery, and the studio system can indulge creativity while also constraining it through schedules, executives, and commercial demands.