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IMDbPro

Citizen Kane

  • 1941
  • PG
  • 1h 59m
IMDb RATING
8.3/10
451K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,766
73
Citizen Kane (1941)
Watch the trailer for the Orson Welles classic Citizen Kane.
Play trailer3:46
9 Videos
99+ Photos
DramaMystery

Following the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'Following the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'Following the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'

  • Director
    • Orson Welles
  • Writers
    • Herman J. Mankiewicz
    • Orson Welles
    • John Houseman
  • Stars
    • Orson Welles
    • Joseph Cotten
    • Dorothy Comingore
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    8.3/10
    451K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,766
    73
    • Director
      • Orson Welles
    • Writers
      • Herman J. Mankiewicz
      • Orson Welles
      • John Houseman
    • Stars
      • Orson Welles
      • Joseph Cotten
      • Dorothy Comingore
    • 1.6KUser reviews
    • 192Critic reviews
    • 100Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Top rated movie #96
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 11 wins & 13 nominations total

    Videos9

    Citizen Kane: Trailer
    Trailer 3:46
    Watch Citizen Kane: Trailer
    All About Filmmaker Amanda Kim
    Clip 2:33
    Watch All About Filmmaker Amanda Kim
    'Mank' Disputes Who Wrote 'Citizen Kane'
    Clip 3:00
    Watch 'Mank' Disputes Who Wrote 'Citizen Kane'
    6 Movie & TV Podcasts When You Need a Binge Break
    Clip 4:16
    Watch 6 Movie & TV Podcasts When You Need a Binge Break
    Citizen Kane: Kane For Governor
    Clip 2:28
    Watch Citizen Kane: Kane For Governor
    Citizen Kane: Kane Marries
    Clip 2:06
    Watch Citizen Kane: Kane Marries
    Citizen Kane: Death
    Clip 2:03
    Watch Citizen Kane: Death
    Citizen Kane: Montage
    Clip 2:06
    Watch Citizen Kane: Montage
    John Landis on Citizen Kane
    Featurette 4:41
    Watch John Landis on Citizen Kane

    Photos200

    Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Ellen Lowe, and Everett Sloane in Citizen Kane (1941)
    Orson Welles and Dorothy Comingore in Citizen Kane (1941)
    Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, and Everett Sloane in Citizen Kane (1941)
    Orson Welles, George Coulouris, and Everett Sloane in Citizen Kane (1941)
    Dorothy Comingore in Citizen Kane (1941)
    Ruth Warrick in Citizen Kane (1941)
    Orson Welles in Citizen Kane (1941)
    Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten in Citizen Kane (1941)
    Orson Welles in Citizen Kane (1941)
    Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, and Everett Sloane in Citizen Kane (1941)
    Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten in Citizen Kane (1941)
    Orson Welles in Citizen Kane (1941)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Orson Welles
    Orson Welles
    • Kane
    Joseph Cotten
    Joseph Cotten
    • Jedediah Leland…
    Dorothy Comingore
    Dorothy Comingore
    • Susan Alexander Kane
    Agnes Moorehead
    Agnes Moorehead
    • Mary Kane
    Ruth Warrick
    Ruth Warrick
    • Emily Monroe Norton Kane
    Ray Collins
    Ray Collins
    • James W. Gettys
    Erskine Sanford
    Erskine Sanford
    • Herbert Carter…
    Everett Sloane
    Everett Sloane
    • Mr. Bernstein
    William Alland
    William Alland
    • Jerry Thompson
    Paul Stewart
    Paul Stewart
    • Raymond
    George Coulouris
    George Coulouris
    • Walter Parks Thatcher
    Fortunio Bonanova
    Fortunio Bonanova
    • Matiste
    Gus Schilling
    Gus Schilling
    • The Headwaiter…
    Philip Van Zandt
    Philip Van Zandt
    • Mr. Rawlston
    Georgia Backus
    Georgia Backus
    • Miss Anderson
    Harry Shannon
    Harry Shannon
    • Kane's Father
    Sonny Bupp
    Sonny Bupp
    • Kane III
    Buddy Swan
    • Kane - Age Eight
    • Director
      • Orson Welles
    • Writers
      • Herman J. Mankiewicz
      • Orson Welles
      • John Houseman(uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Despite all the publicity, the film was a box-office flop and was quickly consigned to the RKO vaults. At the 1941 Academy Awards, the film was booed every time one of its nine nominations was announced. It was only re-released to the public in the mid-1950s.
    • Goofs
      During the picnic scene towards the end, Welles had to shoot against a back-projection because a location shoot was too costly and time-consuming. The stock footage used for the exterior was taken from King Kong (1933), hence on closer inspection the four birds that fly by are in fact very definite pterodactyls. RKO told Welles to take the pterodactyls out of the shot, but he liked them, and decided to keep them.
    • Quotes

      Mr. Bernstein: Old age. It's the only disease, Mr. Thompson, that you don't look forward to being cured of.

    • Crazy credits
      In a very rare move the director's credit is shown on the same card as the cinematographer's. This was Orson Welles's personal decision to show his thanks to cinematographer Gregg Toland for his enormous contributions to the film, meaning equal rights.
    • Alternate versions
      The Italian-language version cut an overwhelming number of scenes, leading to "complete" versions of the film to be circa half of the time in English and only the remaining half in Italian.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Projectionist (1970)
    • Soundtracks
      It Can't Be Love
      (uncredited)

      Written by Charlie Barnet and Haven Johnson

      Arranged by The King Cole Trio

      Performed by Raymond Tate, Buddy Collette, Buddy Banks, CeePee Johnson, and Alton Redd

    User reviews1.6K

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    The march of time...
    Citizen Kane is majestic, elegant and noble. It begins at the end, we see a man of obvious wealth and power breathe his last, and then the mysteries of his life are unraveled via a series of anecdotes, barely remembered scenes and highly subjective memories. The boldness of this approach cannot be overemphasized. At the time that this film was made Hollywood was for the most part used to creating straight-forward stories with clearly identified heroes and villains. Kane dared to present Man as he is, rife with confusions, internal contradictions and uncertainty.

    As the film progressed, we see Kane, loosely based on William Randolph Hearst, the famous newspaper tycoon slowly sacrifice his ideals in order to build his financial empire, losing his friendships with those who believed in him until ultimately he looses everything he has, his marriage, his friends, and his integrity. Though he is the richest man in the world he lives his remaining isolated in his privately built mountain estate where he has surrounded himself with material pleasures, alone and despairing, one senses that he welcomes death. The film takes the view that wealth and power are inherently destructive of human values. Kane himself states `If I hadn't been born rich I might have been a really great man.

    What is so masterful about Kane is its ambiguity. We never are certain if Kane really did believe in the values that he professed. At the same time that he sets himself up as above the world, he longs for the affection of the common people. This is symbolized by his exploitative, and patronizing love for a chorus girl, Susan Alexander (Dorothy Comingore). Her character is given a paper-thin characterization, the only obvious flaw in a nearly perfect movie.

    Orson Wells gives a bravura performance as Kane, both identifying with and condemning the man. This film was his first venture into movie making after the infamous War of the Worlds radio broadcast that threw America into an uproar. Wells, a child prodigy, had a background in Shakespearian theater, offering modernized adaptations of the Classics, a bold and unusual gesture at the time. He brought that kind of sweeping tragic romantic sensibility to his first film.

    Unconstrained by Hollywood's traditions, he broke all the rules. The deep focus photography that gives Kane its theatrical look was one of his innovations. A mastery of sound, gained from years of working in the radio was another. Kane is an avalanche of technical innovation, unmatched in any other Hollywood film.

    Despite the film's pessimistic outlook, it is studded by moments of joy, beauty and emotional truth. The supporting cast of characters, most of them regulars from Wells' Mercury Theater are also superb. Joseph Cotton is memorable as Jed Leland Kane's close friend who believes in him more then he does. And Everet Slone is wonderful as Kane's would be mentor Mr. Bernstien.

    So many scenes in this movie linger forever in the memory, one is left with a stirring vision of the frailty of the human condition, the film gives us no easy answers and while being fiercely critical of many of it's characters is universal in it's compassion and sympathy, this is perhaps the most vital ingredient for great art.

    Kane was one of the most controversial films ever made. Hearst, offended by his portrayal, offered RKO a small fortune to destroy the film. When that didn't work his newspapers embarked on a campaign of defamation against Wells, thus proving that the film's criticism of the power and corruption of the press were precisely on target. Wells was never given a free hand to direct how he liked again and American Cinema was deprived of the one of the greatest geniuses to adopt it as a medium of self-expression.

    It's influence, was immediate, incalculable and mostly unacknowledged, the film was a box office and critical failure due to Hearst's efforts and it was not until years later that this film got the respect it deserved. Nowadays there is not one living film director of serious artistic intent that has not been deeply influenced by Citizen Kane. It's not just a masterpiece it's a creative touchstone.

    Of course there were other talents at work in making Kane, Hermann Mankiewicz's efforts on the script were indispensable and Bernard Hermann, the composer most famous for working with Hitchcock provided the films beautiful music. Still, the film remains most obviously the work of Orson Wells, a veritable hall of mirrors reflecting the great artist's dreams, obsessions and fears. Citizen Kane is not just one of the great works of cinema it is one of the greatest artistic creations of the century
    helpful•300
    83
    • Mr_Hulot
    • Aug 13, 2002

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    FAQ6

    • What is 'Citizen Kane' about?
    • Is 'Citizen Kane' based on a book?
    • Is this film based on a true story?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 5, 1941 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official Facebook
    • Languages
      • English
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • American
    • Filming locations
      • Busch Gardens - S. Grove Avenue, Pasadena, California, USA(Xanadu Grounds, demolished)
    • Production companies
      • RKO Radio Pictures
      • Mercury Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $839,727 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $1,627,530
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,645,944
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 59 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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