THE GREATEST FILM EVER MADE?

Citizen Kane  Directed by Orson Welles  Written by Orson Welles and Herman Mankiewicz

Academy Award Nominations  Won Screenplay - Welles and Mankiewicz  Actor - Welles  Art Direction  B & W Cinematography  Director  Editing  Music  Sound  Best Picture

PRIMARY CAST

Orson Welles –Charles Foster Kane  Newspaper Tycoon  Based On William Randolph Hearst  Last word: “Rosebud”

Agnes Moorehead – Kane’s mother  Strikes it rich – accidentally  Sends Charles away to get best possible education

George Coulouris – Walter P. Thatcher  Kane’s Guardian  Constant battles with Kane

Dorothy Comingore – Susan Alexander Kane  Kane’s mistress  2 nd wife  Forced into opera career  2 nd ex-wife

Joseph Cotten – Jed Leland  Kane’s best friend  Theater Critic  Become estranged

Everett Sloane – Mr. Bernstein  Kane’s office manager  “Yes-man”

Paul Stewart – Raymond (the butler)  Slimy character  Knows all the “secrets”  Wants to sell information

William Alland – Paul Thompson (reporter)  Sent to interview those who knew Kane well – learn the meaning of “Rosebud”  “Like putting together a jigsaw puzzle”

PLOT STRUCTURE

Plot Structure  Citizen Kane is noted especially for the structure of the plot  Considered to be at least 40 years ahead of its time  Not chronological  Told through different narrative perspectives

Prologue  “No Trespassing”  Kane’s Death  “Rosebud”

Newsreel  “News on the March”  Provides a framework for the viewer  Clearly establishes connection to Hearst

Premise  “What does Rosebud mean?”  Thompson sent to interview people who were close to Kane

False Start  Thompson visits Susan First  She refuses to talk to him  Important to the viewer to meet her early in the film – creates more sympathy for her character

Flashback # 1 - Thatcher  Kane at eight years old  Kane starting first newspaper  Kane effected by stock market crash

Flashback # 2 - Bernstein  Early days at newspaper  “Declaration of Principles”  Kane travels to Europe  Kane engaged to the president’s niece

Flashback # 3 - Leland  Marriage to Emily – “breakfast montage”  First meeting with Susan  Campaign for governor of NY  Affair busted by Emily  Reported in papers  Kane fires Leland

Flashback # 4 - Susan  Singing lessons  Opera debut – disaster  Susan attempts suicide  Life at Xanadu – jigsaw puzzles  Fight at Everglades picnic  Susan leaves Kane

Flashback # 5 - Raymond  Kane trashes Susan’s room in anger  Says, “Rosebud” – anger calms

Coda/End Credits  Thompson says finding the answer is like “doing a jigsaw puzzle”  Thompson never finds the meaning  The audience learns the meaning  Even the end credits were innovative for the time

Plot Structure Thatcher Bernstein Leland Susan Raymond Coda Prologue Newsreel Premise

Technical Elements  DEEP FOCUS - a strategy of lighting, composition and lens choicebthat allows everything in the frame, from the front to the back, to be in focus at the same time.  Cinematographer Gregg Toland had experimented with the technique earlier working with John Ford.

Technical Elements  OPTICAL ILLUSIONS - deep focus allows for the camera to play some interesting tricks on the eye - especially in regard to the relative size of objects at various depths in the frame.

Technical Elements  VISIBLE CEILINGS - Welles and Toland devised a strategy of cloth ceilings that looked real but were not, which allowed more low angle shots without revealing the wires, lights and microphones overhead.

Technical Elements  MATTE DRAWINGS - created by studio artists to create elements that aren’t really there. Often they are combined with real elements in the foreground. The opening and closing shots of Xanadu are excellent examples.

Technical Elements  INVISIBLE WIPES - a visual effect that wipes one image off the screen while another wipes into view. This technique is used very effectively in Kane, wiping from miniature replicas to actual size objects and people.

Technical Elements  TRANSITIONS - Welles did a lot of experimentation with transitions, and frequently found interesting ways to transition from one scene to another especially when time is passing from one shot to the next.

Beyond Charles Foster Kane Along with the personal story is the history of a period. Citizen Kane covers the rise of the penny press, the Hearst-supported Spanish- American War, the birth of radio, the power of political machines, the rise of fascism, the growth of celebrity journalism. A newsreel subtitle reads “1895 to All these years he covered, many of these he was.”