In the May of 1941, RKO radio Pictures released a controversial film by a 25 year-old, first-time director. That premiere of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane was to have a profound and lasting effect on the art of motion pictures. It has been hailed as the best American film ever made, and it's as powerful film today as it was fifty years ago. It earned eight Academy Award nominations, and won the Oscar for Best Screenplay. Through its unique jigsaw-puzzle story-line, inventive cinematography, brilliant ensemble acting, and direction by Welles, the story of Charles Foster Kane is a fascinating portrait of America's love of power and materialism, and the corruption it sometimes fosters. Like all great films, Citizen Kane is a memorable fusion of cinematic art and marvelous entertainment.
Directed by
Orson Welles
Written by
Herman J. Mankiewicz (screenplay); Orson Welles (screenplay).
Starring
Joseph Cotten (Jedediah Leland); Dorothy Comingore (Susan Alexander Kane); Agnes Moorehead (Mary Kane); Ruth Warrick (Emily Monroe Norton Kane); Ray Collins (James W. Gettys); Erskine Sanford (Herbert Carter); Everett Sloane (Mr. Bernstein); William Alland (Jerry Thompson); Paul Stewart (Raymond); George Coulouris (Walter Parks Thatcher); Fortunio Bonanova (Signor Matiste); Gus Schilling (The Headwaiter); Philip Van Zandt (Mr. Rawlston); Georgia Backus (Bertha Anderson); Harry Shannon (Kane's Father). Please contact SFC to add other cast members and characters.
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