Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film by Orson Welles, its producer, co-author, director and star. The film opens with the most famous one word in movie history, Rosebud, which is the last thing Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), uttered before he died. Immediately, reporters compile a newsreel to recap the major events in Kane’s life. But, something is missing, Rosebud; who is it? What is it? And why did it mean so much to Kane that he would say it on his death bed? To crack this mystery we follow a reporter known as Thompson whose job it is to get information from the people who knew Kane when he was alive; Kane’s life is told from several perspectives and points-of-view by several different characters. The film actually goes in chronological …show more content…
Thompson goes to Walter Parks Thatcher Memorial Library in Philadelphia to read the written memoirs of Thatcher a bank owner who later becomes the legal guardian of Kane, when his mother Mary (Agnes Moorehead) decides to send him to live with the wealthy Mr. Thatcher, so that he will never have to worry about money again, the beginning of the loss of his childhood. Then it transitions to Kane in his early ’20s, operating a newspaper, The Inquirer. Next, Thompson goes to interview Bernstein in his New York City office in front of a fire in the hearth. Bernstein was hired as Kane's devoted assistant for the paper, his general business manager. Bernstein is the only character who loves Kane unconditionally. He completely overlooks Kane’s faults and is loyal to him regardless of the circumstances. He is the only character who understands that underneath Kane’s arrogant façade is a lost, lonely …show more content…
Kane then builds his wife Susan an opera house in Chicago, the city where Leland now works as the drama critic for a Kane newspaper; Leland must choose loyalty or the truth after Susan’s horrendous opening night. Leland starts to write a negative review of Susan’s performance, but he passes out, drunk, before he can finish it. Kane arrives at the office and indignantly finishes writing the review himself to show Leland that he can be an honest man. Leland is then fired from the paper; Kane not only lost his best friend, but his also loses his wife when he completely tries to control her and almost rob her of her identity, the only way she can save herself is to leave him. We learn about how this relationship ended at the end of the film when Thompson visits Kane's castle and talks briefly to Kane's butler, Raymond (Paul Stewart) who worked for Kane for eleven years. The butler tells Thompson that Kane "acted kind of funny sometimes and we see Kane in a fit of rage begins to tear apart Susan’s room right after she leaves; he notices a clear, snow crystal paperweight that she left behind, he then picks it up in his hand, he ten starts to walk past all the staff and it then murmurs