Citizen Kane

William Randolph Hearst screamed illegal and slander when he learned that Orson Welles was producing, writing, and starring in a movie which was based upon his life. While Hearst fought to ban the film, Louella A. Parsons and Henry (Time-Life) Luce fought for its appearance. In 1941 Citizen Kane made its heralded debut; a debut which marked the introduction of a brilliant work of art and genius.

Welles, in his first attempt at motion pictures, introduced photographic and dramatic effects which Hollywood, in its years of experience, had never come close to. Fifteen years later, Citizen Kane still stands as a masterpiece of directing, acting, and content. It was no easy feat to capture the life of a man of 76 years in 119 minutes. That the film does have discontinuities and lacks a strong sense of forward movement and plot was inevitable. Yet the film maintains a great sense of the dramatic and is quite gripping.

Using a flashback technique, telescoping time, and making use of excellent photography and imagination for transition, Welles follows Kane from his childhood, to his rise as head of a newspaper chain, through the campaign for governorship and two marriages, and eventually a lonely death. This biography lacks a clear central meaning as well as a plot. But Welles creates so forceful a character and complements him with natural yet biting dialogue and a strong supporting cast, that the faults can be overlooked.

It seems a sad commentary upon moviegoers that although the critics of the 40's raved, the public did not flock to the film. Perhaps the film was fascinating rather than entertaining. But if Welles did not leave a great impression with the public, he left the movie world an important legacy. His use of the wide angle lens, the powerful closeups, the switching from scene to scene via single objects (from the clapping hands of a husband to the applause of a political rally), and the attempt to get inside a personality with great depth and intensity are only some of the contributions.

The film is least effective when it attempts an external and rapid depiction of events. But when it searches the mysterious depth of Kane's palace, Xanadu, and the depths of this man who had to be loved, it hits hard. The force behind the film's greatness is always the driving genius of Orson Welles, of whom a critic once said, "There, but for the grace of God, goes God."