Citizen Kane [PG]

Director: Orson Welles

Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, Agnes Moorhead, Everett Sloane

Orson Welles' greatest achievement and a landmark of cinema history.

The story charts the rise and fall of a newspaper publisher whose wealth and power ultimately isolate him in his castle–like refuge.

The film's protagonist, Charles Foster Kane, was based on a composite of billionaire Howard Hughes and newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst — so much so that Hearst tried to have the film suppressed.

Every aspect of the production marked an advance in film language: the deep focus and deeply shadowed cinematography, the discontinuous narrative, relying heavily on flashbacks and newsreel footage (edited by Robert Wise) and the innovative use of sound and score (music composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann). Every moment of the film, every shot, has been choreographed to perfection. The film is essential viewing, quite possibly the greatest film ever made and, along with The Birth of a Nation, certainly one of the most influential.

We are pleased to present Citizen Kane after a long absence from the Astor screen. By arrangement with the rights owner we have now secured the film in the safety of our Preservation Film Library. (GF)

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Internet Movie Database listing for Citizen Kane.

Origianl advance theatrical trailer for Citizen Kane