 |
| 1941 |
| 119 minutes |
| RKO Radio Pictures |
| Principal Cast: |
| Orson Welles: Charles Foster Kane |
| Joseph Cotten: Jed Leland |
| Dorothy Comingore: Susan Alexander Kane |
| Everett Sloane: Bernstein |
| Ruth Warrick: Emily Norton Kane |
| Agnes Moorehead: Mary Kane |
| George Coulouris: Walter Parks Thatcher |
| Paul Stewart: Raymond |
| William Alland: Jerry Thompson |
| Principal Crew: |
| Director/Script: Orson Welles |
| Script: Herman J. Mankiewicz |
| Photography: Gregg Toland |
| Editor: Robert Wise |
| Music: Bernard Herrmann |
| Art Direction: Perry Ferguson, Van Nest Polgase |
| Makeup: Maurice Seiderman, Mel Burns |
| FULL CAST AND CREW |
As might be expected, Citizen Kane usually dominates discussion of Orson Welles and his life in the popular press. The general conception of Welles' career as spiralling downward after Kane is not only wrong but serves to obscure the fascinating and equally challenging work Welles produced during the rest of his career. It's a far better story to say that Welles made the greatest film ever, then flamed out to become a wandering artist whose talents had been squandered, rather than the truth, but that's likely to always be the public perception of things.
That being said, Kane is what it is, one of the supreme achivements of the cinema, and made, of all places, in the Hollywood factory that would never give Welles a similar opportunity. The unique circumstances of Welles' contract with RKO allowed Welles to make the film he wanted, within budgetary limitations, without studio interference, and Welles used that power to his advantage. That he would never have similar resources and freedom combined on a film again eludes most commentators of the "Kane ruined Welles" school; think what films like Othello and Chimes at Midnight, great as they are, might have been like with studio production capabilities and budgets backing them up.
Kane is the omnipresent Welles film; in the fall of 2001, it will be all over the media again, as Warner Brothers works on preparing a 60th anniversary DVD of the film, using a negative located in Belgium that was made for European release. This should give us a never before seen quality in video clarity and detail. More on that as we approach the release, which is tentatively scheduled for September, according to reports.