Citizen Kane facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Citizen Kane |
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Original 1941 logo
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| Directed by | Orson Welles |
| Produced by | Orson Welles Richard Baer (associate - uncredited) |
| Written by | Orson Welles Herman J. Mankiewicz |
| Studio | Mercury Productions RKO Radio Pictures |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (theatrical) Paramount Pictures (1991 re-release) Warner Bros. (DVD) |
| Running time | 119 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $686,033 (estimated) |
Citizen Kane is a famous American drama movie from 1941. It stars Orson Welles, who also directed it. This was his first full-length movie. Many people think the story of the main character, Charles Foster Kane, was inspired by real-life powerful businessmen. Orson Welles himself said that Kane was based on several famous people, including William Randolph Hearst.
The movie's working title, before it was finished, was RKO 281. Many people have called Citizen Kane the best movie of all time. In 1998, it was ranked number one on the American Film Institute's list of 100 Years... 100 Movies.
Making the Movie
Orson Welles worked closely with his cinematographer, Gregg Toland, to create Citizen Kane. A cinematographer is the person in charge of the camera and the lights for a movie.
Deep Focus Technique
Together, Welles and Toland developed a new way of filming called "deep focus." Usually, when you watch a movie, if something close to the camera is clear, things far away look blurry. But with deep focus, everything in the shot, both near and far, is clear and in focus at the same time. This made the movie look very special and new for its time.
Images for kids
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Welles's 1938 radio broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" caught the attention of RKO
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Orson Welles at his Hollywood home in 1939, during the long months it took to launch his first film project
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The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded by Orson Welles and John Houseman in 1937. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio programs, films, promptbooks and phonographic recordings.
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Sound stage entrance, as seen in the Citizen Kane trailer
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Cinematographer Gregg Toland wanted to work with Welles for the opportunity of trying experimental camera techniques that other films did not allow.
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Welles fell ten feet (3 m) while shooting the scene in which Kane shouts at the departing Boss Jim W. Gettys; his injuries required him to direct from a wheelchair for two weeks.
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Kane ages convincingly in the breakfast montage, make-up artist Maurice Seiderman's tour de force
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Incidental music includes the publisher's theme, "Oh, Mr. Kane", a tune by Pepe Guízar with special lyrics by Herman Ruby.
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Orson Welles and Ruth Warrick in the breakfast montage
See also
In Spanish: Citizen Kane para niños
