Citizen Kane anniversary
Sixty-six years ago today, Citizen Kane premiered in New York.
We mention this because not only is it one of the greatest films of all time, nor because it’s been the basis for everything from Andy Helfer and Kyle Baker’s Shadow Annual #2 to the unproduced screenplay for I, Robot by Harlan Ellison, nor even that without Orson Welles, we don’t have that great scene in Ed Wood or even the Brain or possibly the radio version of The Shadow.
No, because after two thirds of a century, we can now officially dispense with SPOILER WARNINGS and talk freely about the plot of the film and its amazing ending.
And man, I would never have suspected that Rosebud was really Luke Skywalker’s father.*
So let’s raise a glass and toast, Jedediah, to love on our own terms.
And if you don’t want to watch Kane tonight, watch RKO 281 instead. A great behind the scenes story, and everybody in the cast is great– yes, even Melanie Griffith.
* You think I’m kidding. Orson Welles was actually considered for the voice of Darth Vader.