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Citizen Kane Overview:

Citizen Kane (1941) was a Drama - Mystery Film directed by Orson Welles and produced by Orson Welles and George Schaefer.

SYNOPSIS

Welles's greatest achievement, and a landmark of cinema history. The narrative charts the rise to power of a newspaper publisher whose wealth and power ultimately leave him alone in his castlelike refuge. Every aspect of the production marked an advance in film language: the deep-focus, deeply shadowed cinematography; the discontinuous narrative (in a screenplay by Herman Mankiewicz); the innovative use of sound and score; the ensemble acting forged in the fires of Welles's Mercury Theater. Essential viewing. The laserdisc contains a second audio track with commentary by a noted film historian, and the 50th anniversary release includes the restored original movie plus the 30-minute documentary Reflections on Citizen Kane, featuring the recollections of the actors and editors along with commentary by other filmmakers.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Citizen Kane was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1989.

Academy Awards 1941 --- Ceremony Number 14 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActorOrson WellesNominated
Best Art DirectionArt Direction: Perry Ferguson, Van Nest Polglase; Interior Decoration: Al Fields, Darrell SilveraNominated
Best CinematographyGregg TolandNominated
Best DirectorOrson WellesNominated
Best Film EditingRobert WiseNominated
Best PictureMercuryNominated
Best WritingHerman J. Mankiewicz, Orson WellesWon
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Citizen Kane BlogHub Articles:

Book Review--Young Orson: The Years of Luck and Genius on the Path to Citizen Kane

By KC on Mar 8, 2017 From Classic Movies

Young Orson: The Years of Luck and Genius on the Path to Citizen Kane Patrick McGilligan Harper, 2015 The universally acclaimed Citizen Kane (1941) alone would have assured Orson Welles a solid place in entertainment history. That the 25 years leading up to that unique cinematic achievement were fi... Read full article

The 75th Anniversary Of CITIZEN KANE

By Dan Day Jr. on May 3, 2016 From The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog

This week marks the 75th anniversary of the theatrical premier of CITIZEN KANE. I don't think I need to tell you that this is one of the most renowned and famous films of all time. Orson Welles' magnum opus remains a stunning cinematic achievement, and the title of the film itself has become a gener... Read full article

Review: Citizen Kane (1941)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Mar 15, 2016 From 4 Star Films

“That’s all he ever wanted out of life… was love. That’s the tragedy of Charles Foster Kane. You see, he just didn’t have any to give.” – Jedediah Leyland It might seem rather trite to attempt to write anything on Citizen Kane, but as someone who can admitte... Read full article

Citizen Kane (1941) – Updated

By 4 Star Film Fan on Mar 15, 2016 From 4 Star Films

“That’s all he ever wanted out of life… was love. That’s the tragedy of Charles Foster Kane. You see, he just didn’t have any to give.” – Jedediah Leyland It might seem rather trite to attempt to write anything on Citizen Kane, but as someone who can admitte... Read full article

Review: Citizen Kane (1941)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Mar 15, 2016 From 4 Star Films

“That’s all he ever wanted out of life… was love. That’s the tragedy of Charles Foster Kane. You see, he just didn’t have any to give.” – Jedediah Leyland It might seem rather trite to attempt to write anything on Citizen Kane, but as someone who can admitte... Read full article

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Citizen Kane Quotes:

Bernstein: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Switzerland... he was thrown out of a lot of colleges.
Bernstein: President's niece, huh? Before Mr. Kane's through with her, she'll be a president's wife.
[Susan is leaving Kane]
Kane: [pleading] Don't go, Susan. You mustn't go. You can't do this to me.
Susan: I see. So it's YOU who this is being done to. It's not me at all. Not how I feel. Not what it means to me.
[laughs]
Susan: I can't do this to you?
[odd smile]
Susan: Oh, yes I can.
Leland: [about Kane's "Declaration of Principles"] I'd like to keep that particular piece of paper myself. I have a hunch it might turn out to be something pretty important. A document...
Bernstein: Sure!
Leland: ...like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and my first report card at school.
Bernstein: Old age. It's the only disease, Mr. Thompson, that you don't look forward to being cured of.
See More Quotes from Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane Facts
The movie's line "Rosebud." was voted as the #3 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007.
One line by Kane, "Don't believe everything you hear on the radio," might be construed as a sly wink from Orson Welles to those who panicked upon hearing his radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds."
The "newsreel" that opens the film is a perfect skewering of Henry Luce's 'Time Magazine' style of prose as used in 1940. 'Time' obituaries often began, "Death, as it must to all men, came last week to . . ." 'The New Yorker' published a parody in 1936, before "Kane": "Certainly to be taken with seriousness is Luce at thirty-eight, his fellowman already informed up to his ears, the shadow of his enterprises long across the land, his future plans impossible to imagine, staggering to contemplate. Where it will all end, knows God!"
The opening scene in a darkened theater (after the newsreel) is played by all the main male characters from the rest of the film, including Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles.
The character of Mr. Bernstein was named after Orson Welles's guardian Dr. Maurice Bernstein, a Kenosha (WI) surgeon who became close to the Welles after having treated Orson Welles' grandmother in her final illness.
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