Customer Reviews

Citizen Kane

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Orson Welles was a genius in filmmaking in the same way that Lord Laurence Olivier could act Shakespeare. He was inspired by Randolph Hearst's life, the publishing tycoon. The film is probably just flawless. It's not too long or too short. It has the finest cast together including the divine Agnes Moorhead, Dorothy Comingore, Joseph Cotten, Ruth Warrick, and even the master, Orson Welles. He got into a lot of trouble making this film but it's worth it even in black and white. The acting is superb and the writing and directing are equally flawless. You won't find better. IT's still the number one film of all time for a reason.

I think Orson Welles was the greatest creative genius in film who never really reached his full potential. Having said that, he remains one of the greatest creative figures in American cinema and radio!!! This review is primarily about Orson Welles the creative genius and some information on the movie that made his reputation "Citizen Kane."

After creating a sensation across America with his radio rendition of H. G. Wells "War of the Worlds" on Halloween night in 1938, this twenty-four year old "wunderkind" was lured to Hollywood to make movies in 1939. His first film idea unfortunately was rejected by RKO studio; it was an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." He had done the story on Radio with his Mercury Theatre Players to great acclaim. I would have loved to seen Welles' make a film on this great haunting story. A loose adaptation would not come for some forty years later with the incomparable Francis Ford Coppolla film "Apocalypse Now." However, Orson's first film for RKO was "Citizen Kane" (1941). He directed, starred and co-wrote the screenplay with Herman Mankiewicz, it was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won for Best Screenplay. Still considered by the American Film Institute as the greatest movie ever made!!! I do not disagree. Here are a few interesting facts about this film.

Orson had no experience in film; he was primarily a radio entertainer. He had to learn about cinematography very quickly. He got his cinematographer Gregg Toland to give him a "crash course" on how to shoot a movie, the great camera angles of the film proves that Orson was a very quick study.

Film scholars and historians view "Citizen Kane" as Welles' attempt to create a new style of filmmaking by studying various forms of movie making, and combining them all into one. The most innovative technical aspect of Citizen Kane is the extended use of deep focus. In nearly every scene in the film, the foreground, background and everything in between are all in sharp focus. This was done by cinematographer Gregg Toland through his experimentation with lenses and lighting. Specifically, Toland often used telephoto lenses to shoot close-up scenes.

Another unorthodox method used in the film was the way low-angle shots were used to display a point of view facing upwards, thus allowing ceilings to be shown in the background of several scenes. This technique happens to be one of my very favorite used in the movie. Since movies were primarily filmed on sound stages and not on location during the era of the Hollywood studio system, it was impossible to film at an angle that showed ceilings because the stages had none. Welles changed all that. There is one great story of how Orson wasn't satisfied with the camera angle of a particular scene, even after Toland had put the camera on the floor of the sound stage. Toland told Orson it was impossible to get a better angle. Not being satisfied, Orson took the fire axe off the wall and proceeded to hack a hole into the floor of the sound stage allowing the camera to be lowered an extra three feet; thus Orson attained his desired cinematic angle and the student surpassed his teacher!!!

When execs at RKO couldn't decide on greenlight-ing "Citizen Kane" (1941), Orson asked for film equipment and a small crew released so he could spend the mid-way time doing test shots. Not wanting their New-York-import to grow cold with the RKO deal, they granted the request ... Orson proceeded to shoot actual scenes of the movie. By the time execs realized what he had done, Orson had many key scenes complete. They green-lit Citizen Kane (1941) ... Already having financed the picture, unknowingly.
Finally, Welles prevented studio executives of RKO from visiting the set. He understood their desire to control projects and he knew they were expecting him to do an exciting film that would correspond to his "The War of the Worlds" radio broadcast. Welles' RKO contract had given him complete control over the production of the film when he signed on with the studio, something that he never again was allowed to exercise when making motion pictures. It is a great pity to of ham strung a creative genius like Wells.

In 1975, in spite of all his box-office failures, he received the American Film Institute's 3rd Lifetime Achievement Award in 1975 from its Chairman Charlton Heston, who said of Welles in his remarks; "The first AFI award went to a director (John Ford), the second to an actor, (James Cagney). In Orson Welles, we honor both crafts." In 1984 the Directors Guild of America awarded him its highest honor, the D.W. Griffith Award. His reputation as a film maker has climbed steadily ever since.

This videotape's editorial accurately describes it: a fine slipcase with a hinged front cover that reveals within photos and film trivia, plus a superbly clear transfer of a monumental American movie.

If the stories are to be believed, Orson Welles created CITIZEN KANE as an act of vengeance for a sleight he received from W.R. Hearst during a dinner party at the tycoon's enormous California estate. Welles supposedly included "Rosebud" in his semi-bio of Hearst to embarrass the man. This mysterious word was the publisher's nickname for an intimate body part belonging to his mistress, Marion Davies. (BTW... watch closely in the film's early snow scene for a revealing "Rosebud" hint, when young Kane hits a visitor with his beloved sled and we see the famous flower insignia on it.)

Is this picture, as so many claim, THE GREATEST ever made? Since all art is subjective, can there ever be a single BEST motion picture, painting, statue or song? Whether or not "Kane" is numero uno, two things are certain:
1.) CITIZEN KANE is *classic* film making in every sense imaginable.
2.) Its high regard and place in cinematic history are assured, perhaps for all time.


"Citizen Kane" is available on DVD.

Also recommended:

The excellent HBO biopic about the creation of "Citizen Kane," RKO 281 (1999) features Liev Schreiber's remarkable portrayal of the enigmatic boy-director. Co-stars John Malkovich as Welles' collaborator Herman Mankiewicz, also Melanie Griffith as actress Marion Davies and James Cromwell as newspaper czar William Randolph Hearst. (VHS) (DVD)

Orson labored for many years to finish his superb adaptation of Shakespeare's OTHELLO (1952). After winning the prestigious Palme D'Or at Cannes, this film played in a limited number of American theaters, flopped badly, then disappeared. The long-presumed "lost" negative of "Othello" was finally located in New Jersey, in 1992. (VHS) (DVD)


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.

(8.6) Citizen Kane (1941) - Orson Welles/Joseph Cotten/Ruth Warrick/Agnes Moorehead/Dorothy Comingore/Ray Collins/Philip Van Zandt (uncredited: Nat 'King' Cole/Alan Ladd/Herman Mankiewicz/Benny Rubin/Gregg Toland)