Orson Welles
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Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" is now available in 4K Ultra HD as part of the Criterion Collection.
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#2 Citizen Kane (1941) Director: Orson Welles Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film by Orson Welles, its producer, co-author, director and star. The picture was Welles's first feature film. Nominated for Academy Awards in nine categories, it won an Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles. Considered by many critics, filmmakers, and fans to be the greatest film ever made, Citizen Kane was voted the greatest film of all time in five consecutive Sight & Sound polls of critics, until it was displaced by Vertigo in the 2012 poll. It topped the American Film Institute's 100 Years ... 100 Movies list in 1998, as well as AFI's 2007 update. Citizen Kane is particularly praised for its cinematography, music, and narrative structure, which were innovative for its time. The story is a film à clef that examines the life and legacy of Charles Foster Kane, played by Welles, a character based in part upon the American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, Chicago tycoons Samuel Insull and Harold McCormick, and aspects of Welles's own life. Upon its release, Hearst prohibited mention of the film in any of his newspapers. Kane's career in the publishing world is born of idealistic social service, but gradually evolves into a ruthless pursuit of power. Narrated principally through flashbacks, the story is told through the research of a newsreel reporter seeking to solve the mystery of the newspaper magnate's dying word: "Rosebud". After the Broadway successes of Welles's Mercury Theatre and the controversial 1938 radio broadcast "The War of the Worlds" on The Mercury Theatre on the Air, Welles was courted by Hollywood. He signed a contract with RKO Pictures in 1939. Unusual for an untried director, he was given the freedom to develop his own story, to use his own cast and crew, and to have final cut privilege. Following two abortive attempts to get a project off the grou
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FILE - This undated file photo provided by Heritage Auctions shows two scrapbooks filled with newspaper clippings about the nationwide panic from Orson Welles' 1938 radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds". The clippings were among the legendary actor, director and scriptwriter's items consigned by his daughter, Beatrice Welles for sale by Heritage Auctions in New York City on Saturday, April 26, 2014. The collection fetched $180,000. (AP Photo/Heritage Auctions, File)
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The 1950's era 16 millimeter film camera used by Orson Welles to shoot a 1962 documentary and home movies is one of the items consigned by his daughter Beatrice Welles to be offered by Heritage Auctions in New York City on April 26, 2014. (AP Photo/Heritage Auctions)
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This photo provided by Heritage Auctions shows the 1950's era 16 millimeter film camera used by Orson Welles to shoot a 1962 documentary and home movies which is one of the items consigned by his daughter Beatrice Welles to be offered by Heritage Auctions in New York City on April 26, 2014. (AP Photo/Heritage Auctions)
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This photo provided by Heritage Auctions shows two scrapbooks filled with newspaper clippings about the nationwide panic from Orson Welles' 1938 radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds" which are among the Welle's items consigned by his daughter, Beatrice, that will be offered by Heritage Auctions in New York City on April 26, 2014. (AP Photo/Heritage Auctions) Photo credit:
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This photo provided by Heritage Auctions shows two dozen pages from the classic 1941 Orson Welles film, "Citizen Kane," consigned by his daughter, Beatrice Welles, which will be offered by Heritage Auctions in New York City on April 26, 2014. (AP Photo/Heritage Auctions)
