1941 - CITIZEN KANE, some random thoughts.

A few random thoughts about Citizen Kane.

Obviously the most noticeable aspect of the film is the photography of Greg Toland.  Toland used a process called deep focus or as he called it "fixed focus."  Toland kept the f stop of the camera down allowing him to keep everything in focus. This really overly simplifies Toland's contribution to the film.  The photography in Citizen Kane hasn't dated one bit in 70 years and can certainly match anything being done today.

Orson Welles made his name in radio drama, he understood how to use sound to tell a story.  The sound recording and the use of sound and dialog as transitions between scenes is almost as important as the photography.  The creative use of sound as an editing tool still seems unparalleled in film.

Bernard Herrmann's first score for films was also trendsetting.  Herrmann had gotten his start in radio drama so he understood when and when not to use underscoring to develop the drama.  Herrmann primarily used the leitmotif approach in Kane,  small musical phrases mostly played between scenes.  No smothering the film in syrupy music like Max Steiner or Herbert Stothart.

Welles directs and rehearses himself in the musical number

Finally there is Orson Welles.  A man who was possessed of a tremendous ego to put it mildly.  Charleton Heston considered him one of the few geniuses he had ever worked with but also commented on the strange streak of self destructive behavior that he possessed.  It was as if Welles couldn't or wouldn't control himself.  He antagonized the head of almost every Hollywood studio,  the same people who would have to finance his films.

Welles was born to make films and if Welles felt that he "started at the top and worked himself down" he still made some very interesting pictures during his life. 

I had to do it.

In 1971, the critic Pauline Kael attempted to shift a lot of the credit for Citizen Kane to the co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz.  Mankiewicz was a screenwriter who was usually involved with light comedies and was probably responsible for a lot of the clever and amusing lines in Citizen Kane.

Kael provoked a mini critic war between herself and some of Welles's biggest supporters.

Looking back now it's difficult to see how Kael could have come to the conclusion that an alcoholic screenwriter like Mankiewicz deserved much of the credit for Citizen Kane.  It was almost like she hadn't ever seen an Orson Welles film.

119 still dazzling and impressive minutes.