Citizen Kane

Released 1941
Stars Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick, Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford, Everett Sloane
Directed by Orson Welles

The story charts the rise and fall of a newspaper publisher whose wealth and power ultimately isolates him in his castlelike refuge. The film's protagonist, Charles Foster Kane, was based on a composite of Howard Hughes and William Randolph Hearst--so much so that Hearst tried to have the film suppressed. Every aspect of the production marked an advance in film language: the deep focus and deeply shadowed cinematography (from Gregg Toland); the discontinuous narrative, relying heavily on flashbacks and newsreel footage (propelled by a script largely written by Herman L. Mankiewicz); the innovative use of sound and score (sound by Bailey Fesler and James G. Stewart, music composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann); and the ensemble acting forged in the fires of Welles's Mercury Theatre (featuring the film debuts of, among others, Joseph Cotten, Everett Sloane, and Agnes Moorehead). Every moment of the film, every shot, has been choreographed to perfection. 

Summary by netflix

It's difficult to judge a film 60 years after its release because we don't have the perspective of that time, but you don't need to be familiar with the life and affairs of William Randolph Hearst to appreciate "Citizen Kane." I think the film would have been much more wicked if I had been familiar with Hearst, but the character of Kane works by itself. For me, I thought of the irony of how Kane mirrored Orson Welles' future; of how Welles essentially (unknowingly) prophesied his subsequent rise and fall. The most amazing aspect of "Citizen Kane" is its special effects. It's mind blowing how Welles and his crew created their film out of thin air; how they were able to use matte drawings and an optical printer to create what looked like a movie with the largest budget ever. The beauty is that you would never know it while watching the film. If you watch it on DVD, be sure to listen to the excellent commentary by Roger Ebert. He explains what's real and what isn't, as well as how they created all of the shots.

I loved how the story was told. The news reel gives us an overview of Kane's life, and then we get circular flashbacks that dig deeper each time. Eventually we get the image of a man who desperately wanted love but never really knew what it was. He was yanked from his home as a small boy and raised by the aloof Mr. Thatcher, and you can see Kane strive for acceptance and love for the rest of his life. It's always interesting to watch a young idealist gradually transform into the very thing he hates. One thing that really confused me, though, is what kind of newspaper man was Kane? It seemed he was a sleazy man that was a precursor to the National Enquirer, but is that true? Is that what Hearst was?

It's amazing how Welles and his group were given free reign to create any movie they wished. Because of the enormous amounts of money involved, the studios consistently forget that if you get rid of the committee (studio execs) and let creative people create something, you will get something different. It may be a failure, but it may be a masterpiece. --Bill Alward, January 3, 2002