Citizen Kane (1941)

Following the death of a publishing tycoon, news reporters scramble to discover the meaning of his final utterance.

Director:

Orson Welles

Writers:

Herman J. Mankiewicz (original screenplay), Orson Welles (original screenplay),

Stars:

Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead

Top 250 #45 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joseph Cotten	...	Jedediah Leland
Dorothy Comingore	...	Susan Alexander Kane
Agnes Moorehead	...	Mary Kane
Ruth Warrick	...	Emily Monroe Norton Kane
Ray Collins	...	James W. Gettys
Erskine Sanford	...	Herbert Carter
Everett Sloane	...	Mr. Bernstein
William Alland	...	Jerry Thompson
Paul Stewart	...	Raymond
George Coulouris	...	Walter Parks Thatcher
Fortunio Bonanova	...	Matiste
Gus Schilling	...	The Headwaiter
Philip Van Zandt	...	Mr. Rawlston
Georgia Backus	...	Miss Anderson
Harry Shannon	...	Kane's Father

Storyline

A group of reporters who are trying to decipher the last word ever spoke by Charles Foster Kane, the millionaire newspaper tycoon: "Rosebud." The film begins with a news reel detailing Kane's life for the masses, and then from there, we are shown flashbacks from Kane's life. As the reporters investigate further, the viewers see a display of a fascinating man's rise to fame, and how he eventually fell off the "top of the world."

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Plot Keywords:

rosebud | newspaper | reporter | last words | power | 

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Taglines:

I hate him! I love him! He's a scoundrel! He's a saint! He's crazy! He's a genius!

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 September 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

American

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$686,033 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures, Mercury Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Orson Welles chipped his anklebone halfway through production and had to direct for 2 weeks from a wheelchair. When he was called upon to stand up onscreen, he wore metal braces. The injury occurred in the scene where Kane chases Gettys down the stairs and Welles tripped.

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Goofs

The large sofa (with a table behind) moves between the shot where Kane sits down in the armchair (while Susan does another puzzle), and the cut to Kane's POV. The sofa and table move almost into the line of sight between Kane and Susan between shots.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Charles Foster Kane: Rosebud...

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Crazy Credits

The film's opening title card is presented in complete silence, briefly with no music.

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Connections

Referenced in Kolchak: The Night Stalker: Horror in the Heights (1974)
Kolchak asks Lane-Marriot "Did you ever see Citizen Kane?"

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Soundtracks

"Una voce poco fa"
(1816) (uncredited)
from opera "Il barbiere di Seviglia"
Music by Gioachino Rossini
Libretto by Cesare Sterbini
Arranged by Nathaniel Shilkret
Sung by Dorothy Comingore (dubbed by Jean Forward)

User Reviews

Citizen for all Ages

What do you say about a movie more analysed than is enjoyed, more envied and despised than any other piece of cinema: well documented for its perceived portrayal of William Randolph Hearst, and his efforts to have it destroyed....It has survived and now stands at number one on the AFI's top 100 list, for a movie that didn't even win the Oscar for its year of release.

What can you say about the cinematography and direction and acting, that hasn't already been said? The lighting, the camera angles, the new visual techniques and trick photography used for the first time in an American movie to great effect. Special mention has to go to the acting of a 25 year old Orson Welles, an aspect the least highlighted.

The grand-daddy of the American Soap Opera, it tells the life of Charles Foster Kane, from his humble beginnings, his mother's giving him up to a wealthy guardian, and his building of a newspaper/radio empire. It sees Kane go from an idealistic journalist to a powerful mogul able to manipulate history through his media empire.

Despite all his money and power, Kane is not immune to the hand of destiny, and oh how she slaps Kane the old American way. A married Kane is caught through pure "innocence" with a "singer" and a scandal erupts, costing Kane the state governorship; you can guess the instigator of the scandal-mongering: the incumbent governor.

In the first part of the movie, we see a Kane adored by the public and employees but we don't see the reason why his relationship with his wife deteriorated, shown in a powerful film sequence of spouses drifting apart through the years. In the second part we see his relationship with the "singer" whom he took as his second wife, and how he uses her to try and manipulate public opinion of himself, just as he had used the media empire previously. The only problem is that his second wife isn't as competent as the media empire was in gaining respect or adoration; she is just terrible as an opera singer. But Kane wants to prove to the public that the "singer" who he was caught with, was more than "whore" and that he had the power to shape public opinion; she even told kane that she didn't want to be a singer. It is the cruelest thing any man could have done to another human being; manipulated for his own ends. William Randolph Hearst was said to have been less angry about his own portrayal than that of his mistress, Marion Davies.

The movie broke new grounds for cinema also, in its story-telling: we see first the death of a recluse Kane in his old age, and then there are flashbacks from newsreels and investigations and interviews of reporters piecing together the life of Charles Foster Kane and his dying word "rosebud".

The reporters never found out what his dying word meant, but the audience is shown what it "is". No single word can describe a man's life after all, so what does it mean??? lost childhood innocence and happiness??

This movie bred a bunch of copycats like "The Carpetbaggers" and "Valley of the Dolls", and inspired the great TV soapies like Dallas and Dynasty. Many other movies from different genres have copied and perhpas bettered the camera work and lighting and yet this movie has stood up well through the 60 years from its sheer brilliance and originality.

Despite its greatness, Citizen Kane seems to have taken some victims along the way. At age 25, Orson Welles starred, wrote and directed his masterpiece, but because of various reasons, political, envy, hatred, he was never able to match it. The other victim seems to have been Dorothy Comingore as Susan Alexander, mirroring the career of Marilyn Monroe who came after her.

A great movie thats stood the test of time. See it for what it is: a fantastic piece of story-telling firstly, only then can you see its greatness.