Citizen Kane 1941

type: Movie

language: English

duration: 119 min

genre: drama

theme: war

director: Orson Welles

Score: 8 / 10

Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film produced by, directed by, and starring Orson Welles. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Herman J. Mankiewicz. The picture was Welles' first feature film. Citizen Kane is frequently cited as one of the greatest films ever made. For 50 consecutive years, it stood at number 1 in the British Film Institute's Sight & Sound decennial poll of critics, and it topped the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Movies list in 1998, as well as its 2007 update. The film was nominated for Academy Awards in nine categories and it won for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Mankiewicz and Welles. Citizen Kane is praised for Gregg Toland's cinematography, Robert Wise's editing, Bernard Herrmann's music, and its narrative structure, all of which have been considered innovative and precedent-setting.

Plot

In a mansion called Xanadu, part of a vast palatial estate in Florida, the elderly Charles Foster Kane is on his deathbed. Holding a snow globe, he utters his last word, "Rosebud", and dies. A newsreel obituary tells the life story of Kane, an enormously wealthy newspaper publisher and industrial magnate. Kane's death becomes sensational news around the world, and the newsreel's producer tasks reporter Jerry Thompson with discovering the meaning of "Rosebud".

Awards

Cast

More details

author	Herman J. Mankiewicz John Houseman Orson Welles
award	Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay National Board of Review Award for Best Film National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
contentLocation	Florida New York City
director	Orson Welles
editor	Robert Wise
genre	drama
keywords	1929 stock market crash alcoholic around the world attack attempted suicide belong best friend boarding house build business man charles foster kane deathbed discover estrange force governor of new york invest life story madison square garden married mine newspaper publisher newsreel opera house political scandal public opinion public scandal publish retirement home run run away second wife sing sled snow globe spanish–american war stock market crash want xanadu yellow journalism
musicBy	Bernard Herrmann
nomination	Academy Award for Best Actor Academy Award for Best Art Direction, Black and White Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White Academy Award for Best Director Academy Award for Best Film Editing Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score Academy Award for Best Picture Academy Award for Best Sound Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay
producer	Orson Welles
productionCompany	Mercury Productions RKO Radio Pictures
publisher	RKO Radio Pictures
recordedAt	Malibu San Diego
theme	films à clef narrative opera war