Citizen Kane (1941)

My Review

“It’s terrific!” Or so says the original poster for “Citizen Kane,” and we agree. This film classic from Orson Welles and RKO Pictures seems to be at the top of everyone’s list of best movies of all time. Good reasons for this abound: Innovative film structure by narration, new techniques in cinematography, unique use of of music for scoring a picture, etc.

The story of Welles and “Kane” is one of the legendary tales of Hollywood. After the surprising success of “The War of the Worlds” radio broadcast in 1938, many New York/New Jersey listeners thought that the Earth was actually being invaded by aliens. RKO Pictures signed Orson to a contract giving him unprecedented free reign in making a motion picture.

The result was “Citizen Kane,” a film loosely based on the life of powerful newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, who moved heaven and earth to try to ban, and even destroy, the film. “Kane” consequently did not do well at the box office due to limited release. It became more widely appreciated in the mid 1950’s as a result of bring broadcast on television.

The cast delivered outstanding performances, being composed of Orson Welles and his group of friends which formed his Mercury Theater. This includes Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Ruth Warwick, Ray Collins, Agnes Moorehead, Everett Sloan, Dorothy Comingore, George Coulouris, Fortunio Bonanova, Philip Van Zandt, and Alan Ladd.

“Citizen Kane” was nominated for nine Academy Awards, winning one for Best Original Screenplay (Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles). Non-winners include Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Welles), Best Cinematography (Gregg Toland), Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Recording, and Best Musical Scoring (John Aalberg).