Citizen Kane (1941)
Average Rating: 9.4/10
Reviews Counted: 66
Fresh: 66 | Rotten: 0
Orson Welles's epic tale of a publishing tycoon's rise and fall is entertaining, poignant, and inventive in its storytelling, earning its reputation as a landmark achievement in film.
Average Rating: 9.1/10
Critic Reviews: 11
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 0
Orson Welles's epic tale of a publishing tycoon's rise and fall is entertaining, poignant, and inventive in its storytelling, earning its reputation as a landmark achievement in film.
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Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 151,693
Movie Info
Orson Welles first feature film -- which he directed, produced, and co-wrote, as well as playing the title role -- proved to be his most important and influential work, a ground-breaking drama loosely based on the life of William Randolph Hearst which is frequently cited as the finest American film ever made. Aging newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) dies in his sprawling Florida estate after uttering a single, enigmatic final word -- "Rosebud" -- and newsreel producer Rawlston
May 1, 1941 Wide
Sep 25, 2001
RKO Radio Pictures
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Cast
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Orson Welles
Charles Foster Kane -
Joseph Cotten
Jedediah Leland -
Everett Sloane
Mr. Bernstein -
Dorothy Comingore
Susan Alexander -
Ray Collins
Boss Jim Gettys -
Ruth Warrick
Emily Norton Kane -
George Coulouris
Walter Parks Thatche... -
Paul Stewart
Raymond -
Buddy Swan
Kane as Child -
Agnes Moorehead
Kane's Mother -
Harry Shannon
Kane's Father -
Sonny Bupp
Kane III -
Erskine Sanford
Herbert Carter -
William Alland
Jerry Thompson -
Georgia Backus
Bertha -
Philip Van Zandt
Mr. Rawlston -
Gus Schilling
Headwaiter -
Fortunio Bonanova
Signor Matiste -
Joan Blair
Georgia -
Edmund Cobb
Enquirer Reporter -
Eddie Coke
Reporter -
Gino Corrado
Gino -
Herbert Corthell
City Editor -
Louise Currie
Reporter -
Pedro de Cordoba
Kane senior -
Robert Dudley
Photographer -
Al Eben
Mike -
Edith Evanson
Nurse -
Milt Kibbee
Reporter -
Alan Ladd
Reporter -
Ellen Lowe
Miss Townsend -
Irving Mitchell
Dr. Corey -
Arthur O'Connell
Reporter -
Walter Sande
Reporter -
Tudor Williams
Chorus Master -
Arthur Kay
Orchestra Leader -
Benny Rubin
Smather -
Charles Bennett
Entertainer
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Citizen Kane Trailer & Photos
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All Critics (69) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (66) | Rotten (0) | DVD (39)
It can be classified as, in a number of aspects, one of the most arresting pictures ever produced.
An ecstasy of light and shadow, of clashing textures and graphic forms, such as hadn't been seen since the silent era.
Many of the novel techniques Welles developed with cinematographer Gregg Toland were calculated to offer new angles on film space.
It is a work of art created by grown people for grown people.
Top CriticWelles has found the screen as effective for his unique showmanship as radio and the theatre.
It is still the best place I know of to start thinking about Welles -- or for that matter about movies in general.
Perhaps when the uproar has died down it will be discovered that the film is not quite so good as it is considered now, but nevertheless Hollywood will for a long time be in debt to Mr. Welles.
Welles's deeply haunting depiction of the life of William Randolph Hearst has long been synonymous with the director's spectacularly odd and genuinely tragic career.
One of the best films out there, and certainly a high point in early cinema. The love for Citizen Kane is deserved.
Above all, Welles was a showman and Citizen Kane is a three ring circus of cinematic ingenuity...
Citizen Kane may very well be the most talked-about movie in history.
Orson Welles' epic film, his stunning feature debut from 1941, is an enduring masterpiece that was underestimated at the time of its release due to political reasons.
Citizen Kane has been cited as the greatest film ever made from so many different quarters, it's a wonder that a Congressional law hasn't been passed making it required viewing for anyone who claims they like movies.
Classic should be required for any movie lover.
Citizen Kane is not only an entertaining film, but it is also a deeply heartfelt, though provoking, and intelligent one as well. Like a fine wine it has aged well over the last 60 odd years.
To revisit it now is still to marvel at its wit, audacity and sheer entertainment value.
With its spirit of visual and narrative innovation, and Welles's precocious, towering central performance, Citizen Kane almost lives up to its own reputation as the best of all time.
There's no denying that his bravura performance, both in front of the camera and behind it, is spellbindingly effective.
There can hardly be anything left to say about Citizen Kane, now revived on the big screen, other than to comment on sublime moments.
A ground-breaking masterpiece. It contains so many examples of cinematic brilliance that it's a shock it won only one Oscar (for the screenplay).
Truly one of the greatest films ever.
It would be nice to be able to buck the critical orthodoxy and say how tired and overrated Citizen Kane is; but the dulll truth is, it's still, indisputably, one of the great masterpieces of cinema.
...an impressive dramatic epic that articulates some of the myths of capitalist America in a personal and human way.
Audience Reviews for Citizen Kane
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Movies Like Citizen Kane
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- Charles Foster Kane: I run a couple of newspapers. What do you do?
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- Charles Foster Kane: We have no secrets from our readers. Mr. Thatcher is one of our most devoted readers, Mr. Bernstein. He knows what's wrong with every issue since I've taken charge.
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- Charles Foster Kane: I always gagged on the silver spoon.
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- Charles Foster Kane: You know, Mr. Bernstein, if I hadn't been very rich, I might have been a really great man.
- Walter Parks Thatcher: Don't you think you are?
- Charles Foster Kane: I think I did pretty well under the circumstances.
- Walter Parks Thatcher: What would you like to have been?
- Charles Foster Kane: Everything you hate.
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- Boss Jim Gettys: You're the greatest fool I've ever known, Kane. If it was anybody else, I'd say what's going to happen to you would be a lesson to you. Only you're going to need more than one lesson. And you're going to get more than one lesson
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- Charles Foster Kane: This gentleman was saying...
- Boss Jim Gettys: I am not a gentleman. I don't even know what a gentleman is.
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Foreign Titles
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