This page hosted by
Get your own Free Homepage
Bupp Filmology
Week Four
|
|
"Citizen Kane" 1941
|
MOVIE NAME: CITIZEN KANE
STUDIO: RKO
PRODUCER: ORSON WELLES
DIRECTOR: ORSON WELLES
DATE: 1941
TYPE: DRAMA
CAST:
ORSON WELLES as Charles Foster Kane, JOSEPH COTTEN as Jedediah Leland ,DOROTHY COMINGORE as Susan Alexander, SONNY BUPP as Charles Foster Kane III, EVERETT SLOANEas Mr. Bernstein, RAY COLLINS as Boss J.W. "Big Jim" Gettys, GEORGE COULOURIS as Walter Parks Thatcher, AGNES MOOREHEAD as Mary Kane,PAUL STEWARD as Raymond
SOURCE: TV GEN, TV GUIDE'S Webpage
STORY:
Fading in on an ominous nighttime exterior, the camera slowly
focuses on a high wrought-iron fence filigreed with the initial "K."
Beyond spreads Xanadu, the vast estate of one of the world's
wealthiest men. The camera surveys the grounds--empty gondolas
swaying on a private lake, exotic animals penned in a private zoo,
manicured lawns and shrubbery--all shrouded in fog. Towering above
the mist is the top of a man-made mountain on which sits a castle, a
single light shining from it. Within is a dying man who clutches a
crystal ball enclosing a winter scene and make-believe snow. He
utters one word, "Rosebud," and dies, dropping the ball, which
breaks into tiny shards.
So begins Orson Welles's legendary CITIZEN KANE. After several
projects came to naught, notably an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's
Heart of Darkness, 25 year-old wunderkind Welles, already a
sensation in the theater and radio worlds, made what is
unquestionably the most stunning debut in the history of film. KANE
is a landmark film for myriad reasons, not the least of which is the
variety of techniques employed--quick cuts, imaginative dissolves,
even the iris device once popular in silent films. Indeed, none of the
film making methodology of the past is left unused, but KANE also
contributes an array of innovative cinematic devices, most notably
Gregg Toland's astonishing deep-focus photography (a technique
pioneered by legendary cinematographer James Wong Howe).
Visually this is Toland's film, a masterpiece of shadow and sharp
contrast that artfully conveys murky moods and occasional moments
of gaiety as camera and reporter search for the meaning of a man's
life.
Welles took credit for writing most of KANE's superb screenplay, but
the bulk of its incisive, witty, and unforgettable scenes and dialogue
were most probably scripted by screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz,
brother of Joseph, the noted film producer-director-writer.
Nonetheless, Welles's contribution as director-producer remains
awe-inspiring: he chronicles Kane's life through a combination of
highly dramatic episodes and newsreel-like footage--slices of life that
form a compelling patchwork biography. The film is so tightly
constructed that every scene counts, filling in a piece of the puzzle,
incomplete though it may be after reporter Jerry Thompson (William
Alland) traces five accounts of the millionaire's life.
At the film's conclusion, reporters gather at Kane's estate, moving
through a warehouse that is being cleared of endless piles of curios,
stacks of furniture and countless crates containing Kane's purchases.
As they move off into the dark recesses, a high boom shot reveals a
staggering collection of toys, paintings and statues. Slowly the camera
pans the heaps of Kane's possessions until it comes to a blazing
furnace into which workmen throw all items considered to be junk.
One of the workers picks up a sled--the very one Kane had as a boy
in Colorado--and throws it into the fire. The camera closes in tightly
on the top of the sled, and as it catches fire, the name "Rosebud" is
revealed before the letters burn away. The scene shifts to the outside
of the looming castle, panning upward to the high chimney from
which Kane's lost youth curls upward into the night sky. The camera
pulls back from the edifice, concluding the film with the shot of the
iron fence with which it began.
CITIZEN KANE has influenced countless filmmakers and established
the taste of discerning audiences worldwide. It is the epitome of
film making, a masterpiece for which Welles, one of the greatest
practitioners of the cinematic art, will be forever remembered.
NOTE: This note was sent to me by my Uncle Mac (Sonny), regarding the above, "... the write-up attached to the Photo tends to take away from
Welles' talent. For anybody and everybody's benefit I can assure you that he
was probably the most dynamic guy you'd ever meet or see in action. Anyone
who doesn't think he 'ran the whole show' wasn't there. I was." The American Film Institute recently named Citizen Kane,the number one movie of the century.
AWARDS & NOMINATIONS:
Academy Award: Best Original Screenplay - Herman J. Mankiewicz, Orson
Welles
Academy Award Nomination: Best Picture
Academy Award Nomination: Best Actor - Orson Welles
Academy Award Nomination: Best Director - Orson Welles
Academy Award Nomination: Best Cinematography - Gregg Toland
Academy Award Nomination: Best Editing - Robert Wise
Academy Award Nomination: Best Score - Bernard Herrmann
Academy Award Nomination: Best Art Direction - Perry Ferguson, Van Nest
Polglase, Al Fields, Darrell Silvera
Academy Award Nomination: Best Sound - John Aalberg
|
