CITIZEN KANE MUST BE REMEMBERED IN PERSPECTIVE!

Rating: Null/10 (21 October 1998)

The film was made in 1940 and released in 1941. This was before television... was a media, before jet planes were a mode of transportation. And the rocket ships described by Isaac Newton in the 1600s and Jules Verne in the 1800s were representred by Flash Grdon imitations. Accurate workable rockets were not to be even built until the 1950s and finally the moon in 1969. Orsen Wells had exploded onto the scene with his "War of the Worlds," Radio drama abut the invasion of Earth by the Martians in New Jersey. So vivid was the drama, and captivating, so real, that thousands called in while the "MercuryTheatre" production was still being aired, attesting to the invasion as actual fact. Thus when Orsen Wells followed that late 1930s production with "Citizen Kane" the expectation was great. However the people (especailly in the mass media of radio and film) were expecting to see a great work. Orsen Wells was skilled and produced a very professional and innovative work. However it is this writer's contention that the mood had been set for Wells not to fail. No one was to truly criticise. For as in the story of "The Emperor's New Clothes", a serious critic would have been seen as UNWISE, for not being able to see the fine quality of thread and workmanship. One must also consider and remember that Mr. Wells, himself, had a foreceful, compelling, overbearing and almost threatening persona with which to contend. One should keep in mind both this setting and the person of Orsen Wells when one reviews the work in Citizen Kane. Would an unknown have been criticised for having actors out of the lighting?? And yet Wells is praised for it, as "artwork."
Perhaps if we look at the era and the man, we are now free to criticise and admit that, although a work of art, it was NOT the very best Hollywood ever produced. No, not even up to that time. That honor should have been a DeMille movie for the sheer grandeur. And if one is seeking a truly innovative director, why not Alfred Hitchcock of that same era (and beyond). Citizen Kane must be remembered in its narrow perspective.
The current generation of film makers received their education from men and women of that Kane era. They should pause, reflect and yes, even perhaps critisize the great Orsen Wells production of Citizen Kane. It is to be remembed in its perspective moment of history as either great or not. But the best film ever???