ROSEBUD
Posted on 09/15/2011 6:04:44 PM PDT by nickcarraway
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the classic movie, Citizen Kane, which many consider to be the greatest movie ever made.
The film, loosely based on publishing mogul William Randolph Hearst, stars Orson Welles, who also co-wrote, directed and produced the film - all when he was just 25 years old. Hearst prohibited mention of the film in any of his newspapers.
Welles is the title character, one Charles Foster Kane, who becomes more and more powerful in the publishing industry until a scandal leaves him ruined and alone.
The line, “Rosebud,” has become one of the most-quoted movie lines. A special edition Blu-ray of the film was released Tuesday. It has already gotten praise for its picture quality, as well as its special features, which include several documentaries discussing the film, as well as the HBO original movie RKO 281.
Welles won the Oscar (with Herman J. Mankiewicz) for Original Screenplay. The film also earned eight other Oscar nominations. Welles also became the youngest man to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Director until John Singleton was nominated five decades later for Boyz N the Hood (1991).
Chaplin in "The Great Dictator" is a classic, IMNSHO.
Cotton is an unsung hero. His performance in the role of Harley Martins in “The Third Man” was excellent.
Wow, 70 years already? The first time I saw Citizen Kane was at college during my film studies class which was part of my Spanish major course curriculum. I can’t believe it is 70 years old. Great film!
"Thanks for the use of the hall."
I enjoy other Welles movies more--Touch of Evil, The Trial, Macbeth--partly because I`ve seen Kane over and over. One unfortunate thing is that Kane is usually spoken of as Welles`s triumph, but it is actually a triumph of the studio system--Welles used RKO`s technical staff and art directors etc. to bring Mankiewicz`s and his script to life; the actors, Bernard Herrmann`s score, RKO staffer Robert Wise`s editing, the sound... For all the talk of Welles as a maverick, his films after it were flawed in many ways because he no longer had a studio`s resources to work with.
Tastes vary and I can't take you to task for your characterization of what is my personal favorite film. I have a very long attention span and can stay focused on a compelling film (or book, take Mann's "The Magic Mountain" for example) that others may find overly long (such as Judgment at Nuremberg and Lawrence of Arabia, two other favorites).
The only movies I truly dreaded -- where the minutes dripped by like hours -- were The Matrix and Lord of the Rings. I had to watch them at a colleague's home as part of dinner and movie. Being polite, I feigned interest but it was hard to stifle my yawns through the near torture of that fare.
Uh, not from what I have heard....it was Hearst’s name for his lover’s vagina...look it up.
someone should write a sequel where Kane comes back from the dead as a zombie and call it Night of the Living Citizen Kane.
Better performances by Cotten and Welles in Carol Reed’s The Third Man.
I was younger at the time I watched it, and I think my experience was somewhat sabotaged by always hearing of it being “the best movie of all time”. I’m sure you know how the expectations thing goes when it comes to movies.
I thought it was a sleigh.
“Citizen Kane” is the greatest STUDENT film of all time.
If you’re aware you’re watching a movie the whole time, it’s a lousy movie.
It`s odd how discussion of Kane brings out the bashing urge in some people on these threads. With the exception of The Matrix, I like every film mentioned in this thread--I had The Third Man on last night, actually.
The story that `Rosebud` refers to the unmentionables of Marion Davies is one that`s never convinced me, though of course I`ve heard it. In the movie it is a reference to the sled, of course, and the more private reference, if true, really doesn`t matter. While Kane doesn`t have as many of the traditional `likable` characters of Hollywood movies, it has compelling, interesting ones. As I age, the Kane characters are more pertinent to real life than 99% of movie characters.
>>> Welles is the title character, one Charles Foster Kane
Who by his action has the traction magnates on the run.
>>> Rosebud was a sled
Rosebud was what William Randolph Hearst called a sensitive portion of Marion Davis’ anatomy. A part Hearst highly appreciated. Hearst failed to see the humor in Welles’ joke.
Even if that story is true (which I doubt), it would have been screenwriter Manciewicz, joke.
It’s a film about movies as much as anything else.
Chaplin was hugely popular in his time and regarded that way during his life. His popularity during World War 1 and in the 1920s was in no way connected to a political position. ‘Shoulder Arms’ and ‘The Gold Rush’ are just as funny now as they were then.
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