Citizen Kane
1941 · United States · 119 min · 1.37:1 · B&W
Directed by Orson Welles
Introduction
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American film directed by Orson Welles, produced by RKO, with Welles as producer, co-writer and star in the role of the newspaper proprietor Charles Foster Kane. It opens with Kane's death, and follows a reporter assigned to establish what the word he spoke at the end referred to. The reporter interviews Kane's former guardian, his business manager, an old friend and his second wife, and their recollections form separate sections that overlap and are not arranged in sequence. Gregg Toland photographed it, using deep focus and low angles throughout, with ceilings built into many of the sets. Kane was modelled in part on the newspaper proprietor William Randolph Hearst, whose papers campaigned against the film. It received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Power in Deep Focus
Welles's contract with RKO gave him final cut, which was almost unheard of for a first feature. The screenplay credit is shared with Herman J. Mankiewicz, and the division of the writing has been disputed ever since. Hearst's papers refused advertising for the film, and MGM offered RKO money to destroy the negative. It was given a limited release and did not recover its cost; its standing rose only after European reissues in the 1950s.
Titles
- Mainland China
- 公民凯恩
- Hong Kong
- 大國民
- Taiwan
- 大國民
- English
- Citizen Kane
- Original
- Citizen Kane
Cast
- Orson Wellesas Charles Foster Kane