Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane is the first film directed by Orson Welles, and is loosely based on the life of the newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. He was so angry about this movie that not a single newspaper or station of his media conglomerate was allowed to review the movie. This struggle was, itself, turned into a movie, RKO 281, which is available now on VHS.

Produced in 1941, Citizen Kane deals with the inability of Mr. Kane (played by Mr. Welles) to love. Instead Kane has only, "Love on my own terms." It details his life, a life without love. A life of aquisitions, of property, of riches, but a complete lack of compassion for his wife, aside from what he perceives makes them happy, money. The movie is told through flashbacks, as told to a reporter trying to do a newsreel on Mr. Kane's life---as he had passed on in the opening scene of the film. The story takes us through the reporter's search for the meaning behind Mr. Kane's last words, 'rosebud.' The story the reporter finds is that of a man who loves only on his own terms, and is rejected for it. The film combines revolutionary cinemaphotography, a wonderful Oscar Award Winning screenplay, and an amazing lineup of first time silverscreen actors, associates of Mr. Welles' from his stint at the Mercury Theater, such as Joseph Cotten and Agnes Moorehead.

During the filming, 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.

Many critics consider the film the best film ever made; the American Film Institute ranked it #1 on its 100 Greatest Movies list; and the film is consistently in the top 5 on the Internet Movie Database.

The Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay was shared by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz as the only one awarded for the film. It was nominated, however, for another eight awards

• Best Picture - Orson Welles, producer
• Best Actor in a Leading Role - Orson Welles
• Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White - Perry Ferguson, A. Roland Fields, Van Nest Polglase, and Darrell Silvera
• Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - Gregg Toland
• Best Director - Orson Welles
• Best Film Editing - Robert Wise
• Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture - Bernard Herrmann
• Best Sound, Recording - John Aalberg