Citizen Kane: Exposing the Truth about William Randolph Hearst

Orson Welles was undoubtedly one of the most talented filmmakers of his time. Along with the innovative camerawork and advanced cinematic techniques that made Citizen Kane a success, Welles also allowed for viewers to connect with his film by providing them with a real life example of the main character. Citizen Kane owned a massive estate called Xanadu that was based upon Hearst's San Simeon. Kane and Hearst were also newspaper magnates who used very similar techniques to gain readers and also operated their newspapers in a comparable manner. Finally, both individuals had affairs with young women involved in the entertainment industry and both Kane and Hearst

At the end the film we are visually told a strong message that a man isn’t necessarily the sum of his achievements, possessions, or actions, but that something deeper must drive him. Kane was more than his public accomplishments is the last word Kane uttered: “Rosebud.” Kane’s life story unfolds in layers through the reporter Thompson's investigation and is told by a succession of people who were close to him. Kane never gets to tell his own life story, and we must wonder how much his telling of it would differ from the reminiscences of his associates. None of these people ever really knew what drove Kane to do the things he did. Only Thatcher would have had the chance to fully understand Kane, but he was too concerned with making money to have any compassion for a lonely child. He viewed Kane through a distant, mature lens of acquisition and conservatism. The differing perspectives on Kane’s life, especially in the absence of Kane’s own point of view, force us to question what was truly important in the life of Charles Foster Kane as well as to ponder what constitutes a life in general. Judging by Kane's last word, the most important pieces of his life were not the things that made him newsworthy, such as his newspaper successes and political ambitions, nor his friendships and associations. Instead, as Kane's life comes to an end, he grasps at a memory from his

Citizen Kane begins the movie with an interesting opening of a man dying while saying his last words. This began the mystery of who was this man and what did he mean by his last words “rosebud”. In the next scene it jumps to a news article

Within Citizen Kane there are important themes that draw in the audience, themes that the audience can relate and even sympathize with which makes the human emotions within the film feel genuine and not acted out/scripted. The first theme is the difficulty of getting the true story of Charles Kane’s life. The audience can only gather so much on his life as Charles Kane himself is deceased and the only things left to gather on his life are newsreels, personal testimonies and manuscripts left by those who knew Mr. Kane and even these facts are mired by prejudices which makes their reliability shaky at best. The audience can also resonate in agreement to a line said by Mr. Thompson when a female reporter believes if he found out what Rosebud meant to Mr. Kane then he could find out everything of Mr. Kane’s life to which Mr. Thompson simply says “No, I don't think so; no. Mr. Kane was a man who got everything he wanted and then lost it. Maybe Rosebud was something he couldn't get, or something he lost. Anyway, it wouldn't have explained anything... I don't think any word can explain a man's life. No, I guess Rosebud is just a... piece in a jigsaw puzzle... a missing piece.” (Thomson, David) Another theme which was more or less a first was criticism of the American Dream, when the audience watches Charles Kane’s early childhood where

Film critics, scholars, and organizations all over the world tend to select Citizen Kane as the the greatest film ever made. While some may argue that this claim is utterly subjective, it raises the question of what makes a movie great. It is undeniable that elements such as the plot, cinematography, and acting can make films better than one another but two rather unspoken elements are a film’s influence and implementation of new traits. This is where it ultimately garners its reputation. Citizen Kane is one of the greatest and most influential cinematic films made because of its creative originality, exceptional coherence, underlying message, and innovative camerawork.

Citizen Kane directed and co-written by Orson Welles, who also starred as the main character Charles Foster Kane, is considered the top movie of the top 100 movies. Citizen Kane starts with a newsreel that tells the life of Charles Foster Kane, who had just recently died. A newspaper team sets out to tell the real story of Charles Foster Kane and learn the truth behind Kane’s last words, “Rosebud” (Gottlieb, 1992). The reporter asked several prominent people in Kane’s life to give their story about the man and any information they would have about his last words. Although, no one knew why his last words were “Rosebud” and what “Rosebud” even was. The audience travels through Kane’s life seen through the eyes of other people, giving us details

Mr. Kane exclaims, “I can fight this all alone…I’m Charles Foster Kane! I’m no cheap crooked politician trying to save himself from the consequences.” (Citizen Kane) Though Mr. Kane was by no means a perfect character, up until this point he could be viewed as the “good”, slightly above average, citizen. But as this scene plays out, he begins to show his darker side to the audience.

The film Citizen Kane was voted the greatest American film twice by the American Film Institute in 1998 and 2007. It broke new grounds in several areas such as complex sound, deep focus and the narrative structure. This movie showed the director is the plays the most important role not the producers, writers or financial investors. William Randolph Hearst the media baron was one of the individuals that inspired the film. He was offended by the film and tried to destroy it by refusing to publicize the film through his media outlets but his efforts failed.

Perhaps one of the most famous and highly rated classics Citizen Kane (directed by Orson Welles and premiered in 1941) revolves around the fictional life story of newspaper mogul Charles Kane (inspired by the life of William Randolph Hearst) and the grand search for the meaning of his parting words: “Rosebud.” Despite a very rough beginning and being met with criticism from the likes of renowned French cinema historian and journalist George Sadoul who claimed, “Citizen Kane is just an encyclopedia of old techniques” the film’s ever steady spot as number sixty eight on IMDb’s top two hundred fifty list is a testament to its fame both in the past and the present. Why is that so? Some would say it is the film’s witty and quotable one-liners as

The absolutely stunning film, Citizen Kane (1941), is one of the world’s most famous and highly renowned films. The film contains many remarkable scenes and cinematic techniques as well as innovations. Within this well-known film, Orson Welles (director) portrays many stylistic features and fundamentals of cinematography. The scene of Charles Foster Kane and his wife, Susan, at Xanadu shows the dominance that Kane bears over people in general as well as Susan specifically. Throughout the film, Orson Welles continues to convey the message of Susan’s inferiority to Mr. Kane. Also, Welles furthers the image of how demanding Kane is of Susan and many others. Mr. Welles conveys the message that Kane has suffered a hard life, and will

Citizen Kane follows a reporter, Jerry Thompson (William Alland), who investigates the significance of a wealthy newspaper publisher’s, Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), dying words: rosebud. Thompson sets out to question people who have known Kane well. Thompson learns that Kane grew up poor and his mother sent him to live with Mr. Thatcher (George Coulouris) so he could be given a good education. Upset that his parents sent him to live with a stranger, Kane attacks Thatcher with his sled and attempts to run away. Years later, Kane enters the newspaper business and takes control of the Inquirer and attacks Thatcher’s business as corrupt. Kane influenced public opinion by writing about the Spanish-American war and married the President of the United States’ niece, Emily Norton (Ruth Warrick). Jedediah Leland (Joseph Cotten) describes how Kane’s first marriage didn’t work out and he had an affair with Susan Alexander (Dorothy Comingore) while running for governor. Kane marries Susan and urges her begin a career in opera, however, she doesn’t have the talent. Susan explains how she attempted

Because of the content of this film, Hearst tried to prevent it from being released. Kane, who was based on Hearst, was a very controversial newspaper tycoon. This makes the film more dramatic people there are characters that either love Kane or hate him. When Kane is caught in a love nest with s ainger, many more people disapprove of him.

Winning best writing and screenplay at the Oscar’s in 1942 the movie Citizen Kane, which challenged the traditional narrative and technical elements of traditional Hollywood. This was achieved by allowing Mr. Orson Welles free rain in production and writing of the film. The writer’s Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles took a chance at writing a screenplay different from anything else at the time it was made and with that created what some say is the best film of all time. The movie begins with the end which is unique and also sets the mood for the film with a dark and ominous beginning. This setup draws the audience in and creates suspense while multiple narrators tell the story and begin to fill in the missing pieces.

Citizen Kane is about a man by the name Charles Foster Kane. Mr. Kane was a famous and once-influential newspaper publisher. The movie starts with a newsreel depicting a lengthy obituary with an overview of Kane’s colorful life and career and introduced some of the more important people and events that occurred in Kane’s life. The producer of the newsreel told the reporters that he was not happy with the film because it merely recounted Kane’s life, instead of revealing who Kane truly was. The producer noted that Kane’s last word was “Rosebud” and wondered if that may hold the key to Kane’s character. He decided to stall the newsreel release and sent a reporter, Jerry Thompson, to talk to Kane’s former associates to try to uncover the identity of Rosebud.

Charlie Kane is heavily based off of William Henry Hearst, the newspaper publisher. When Welles decided to base Kane off of William Hearst he also allowed his viewers previous opinions of Hearst to infiltrate the story and messages he was trying to send. In addition, his film could viewed as an insult towards Hearst because of how the film negatively portrayed Charlie. Near the end of his life everyone who who had loved him had left and he remained alone in his large