Citizen Kane (1941)

I know most of you probably know the plot of the legendary and iconic classic film Citizen Kane. I have seen this film two times. The first time I was too young to understand it, but I re-watched it very recently and felt I could finally really appreciate it.

A reproduction of this poster is on my pin-board, "Everybody's talking about it!" Love.

Now, just for you people who haven't seen this film, I suggest you do one or both of these things before reading this review:

• Go watch the movie
• Read my very brief summary

As you will probably need the gist of the story to get the review.

Charles Foster Kane was the child of the owners of a boarding house with seemingly no future ahead of him, but when his mother comes into a small fortune she pays for him to be taken away and educated. After becoming already quite rich, he decides it would "be fun to run a newspaper." He becomes very well respected and one of the most wealthy men in the world. He has quite a troubled private life before becoming a recluse in his colossal estate Xanadu with his second wife until his dying day when he utters his last word, "Rosebud..." What did it mean? Could it uncover some of the secrets of one of the worlds most powerful men? Reporters from every newspaper were determined to find out.

Cast:

• Orson Welles as Charles Foster Kane
• William Alland as Jerry Thompson.
• Ray Collins as Jim W. Gettys
• Dorothy Comingore as Susan Alexander Kane
• Joseph Cotten as Jedediah Leland
• George Coulouris as Walter Parks Thatcher
• Agnes Moorehead as Mary Kane: Kane's mother.
• Harry Shannon as Jim Kane: Kane's father.
• Everett Sloane as Mr. Bernstein
• Ruth Warrick as Emily Monroe Norton Kane
• Paul Stewart as Raymond

The film actually struck me as quite surrealist with it's odd and dark camera angles and strange sets. The set with all the different crates at the end was very interesting. Orson Welles is fantastic as Charles Foster Kane. He does the hard job of ageing the character from the dashing and inventive Charles at the beginning to the troubled recluse that he becomes later on.

Crazy Mischa-Auer-style mustachioed music teachers forever.

I also thought that Dorothy Comingore did a great job with the difficult part of Susan Alexander Kane, Charles's second wife. It just breaks my heart to see them both in that scene at the opera later. I looked her up and sadly she didn't do much after this as she was blacklisted in 1951 for alleged communist connections.

At the end it is announced that most of the principal players are appearing in their film debut as they have been acting with Orson (also in his debut in this picture) in the Mercury Theatre Company lead by Orson himself and John Houseman. I think that if you could find all of his filmography and stuff, you could get quite hooked on Joseph Cotten movies. I think he's great in Gaslight, The Magnificent Ambersons and The Third Man as well as this.

The music was composed by Hitchcock's favourite composer and conductor, Bernard Herrman. It's a very interesting score. It's big, but it fit's the film perfectly and compliments the direction.

It's usually between this film and Casablanca for the best film of all time, and I honestly don't think I could choose between them. I must admit that it is heavy duty watching, but definitely worth it. It's remarkable to think that this was Orson Welles's first ever film. It looks like the genius work of a seasoned director, and it is in a way, but a seasoned stage director.

This is definitely one of those "Prescribed Watching" films. You should most certainly see it at least once in your life. Well done Mr. Welles.

~Bette 

P.S. Disclaimer: I know I already have a note at the bottom of my page saying that images don't belong to me unless otherwise stated, but I just wanted to reiterate this seeing as there are lots of great graphics/images in this post. They aren't mine! They have been found in various places on the web. If one of these images is yours and you have a problem with it appearing in this - or any other - post notify me in a comment I will remove it.

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

"The magnificence of the Ambersons began in 1873. Their splendor lasted throughout all the years that saw their midland town spread and darken into a city. In that town, in those days, all the women who wore silk or velvet knew all the other women who wore silk or velvet, and everybody knew everybody else's family horse and carriage."

I loved this film. I ordered it on Friday for the half term holiday and - thanks to Amazon Prime's super duper fantazmagorical next day delivery - it arrived on Saturday morning and sat near the DVD player beckoning, "watch me... watch me..." all the time while I was trying to do a Grade 5 music theory mock paper (a very frustrating activity, I assure you). So finally, my family and I sat down and watched it after dinner. Wow.


The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) "I wrote the picture and directed it. My name is Orson Welles."

Cast:

• Joseph Cotten as Eugene
• Dolores Costello as Isabel
• Anne Baxter as Lucy
• Tim Holt as George
• Agnes Moorehead as Fanny

Plot:
The Ambersons were a powerful Indianapolis family from 1873 and it seemed that they would be so forever - or so everyone thought. "Their splendor lasted throughout all the years that saw their midland town spread and darken into a city," but its decline started as soon as the new nightmare addition to the family was let loose on the town. George Minifer (the name that his mother had acquired when she married Wilber Minifer) was a spoilt brat of a child ever since his mother Isabel and his father Wilber realised that they could do just as they liked with the infant, giving him a small horse and carriage to tear through the city with. However, his bold and rude attitude coupled with his girly locks garnered him criticism and teasing from other children. As he grew up he developed a cynical and negative view of the world and the non-Amberson inhabitants of it. All the town members prayed that they would live to see the day that the arrogant bully, George Amberson, would get his come-upance.

One night at a ball held at the house a mysterious, handsome looking man comes and it seems that he had known George's mother before. His name was Eugene Morgan, and he had once been Isabel's beau, but the Ambersons found him altogether too much of an enthusiastic and outgoing character to be part of the Amberson family. Disturbed by the prospect of having such a strange man in the house and as a friend, George started to look around at the other guests at the party when he met Lucy. He instantly took a bit of a liking to Lucy, in the most pleasant way imaginable for George to take a liking to anyone, and expressed his woes about the odd man to her, but is mortified to realise that she is his daughter.

After the party, George questions his Aunt Fanny about Eugene but she refuses to admit that there could be anything between Isabel and him. But when Wilbur dies, it leaves Isabel available and Eugene and Lucy start to see lots of the Ambersons. Eugene's newfangled contraption "the horseless carriage" seems to be catching on and he starts to earn almost as much money from making them as George's family has. While Lucy and George are still fond of each other, their relationship doesn't take top priority for George as Eugene makes up his mind to propose to to Isabel. George is sure that if he simply doesn't let Eugene into the house, all will be fine, but the reputation of the Ambersons is suffering badly...

Review:
Now, when you watch this you have to be aware that it isn't an Orson Welles masterpiece in the sense that Citizen Kane is, in fact most of the film as directed by Orson was cut before its proper release, but it is still a brilliant film. The boy who plays George I felt, should have been Orson Welles but wasn't. He was fine but not quite as great as the other actors. I thought that Anne Baxter was also very good, and I hadn't seen her in anything else except All About Eve so it was very nice to get a different feel of what kind of an acting she did. Dolores Costello was also pretty good. Oh yeah, and she was only married to John Barrymore hence being Drew Barrymore's grandmother. 'Cause that's not completely and utterly amazingly awesome.

Joseph Cotten was amazing as usual. I liked his moustache in this film, even if it wasn't quite as moustachey as the one he has in Citizen Kane. And can I just say, Agnes Moorehead? She was so good! I've only ever seen her in the beginning of Citizen Kane and in her comedic mode as Endora in "Bewitched" (best TV series ever by the way) but she was so good in this. So dramatic! I can imagine that she would be quite hard to cast though.

Not sure this shot ended up in the final cut.

Last but not least, I think that some of the cast in this and Citizen Kane are members of his theatre group, the Mercury Theatre Company founded by Orson Welles. Pretty cool, no?

I thoroughly enjoyed this film and the sets were amazing and worked wonders when teamed with Orson's great wide angle shots. Definitely recommended.

~Bette

The VIPs

The VIPs is a real ensemble piece. I read somewhere about Love Actually that, "If the set burned down British showbiz would be in trouble." Well, this has *gasps*: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Maggie Smith, Louis Jourdan, Rod Taylor, Margaret Rutherford (I wish she was my, ancient benefactress, or... something)

In Murder Most Foul (I think, they all morph into one!), one of her amazing characterizations of Agatha Christie's Ms. Marple

and the incomparable Orson Welles. That's a lot of awesome people for one building. Just to say, how amazing is Maggie Smith in like, everything? She doesn't get the credit she deserves! My grandma called my mum up a few weeks ago to tell her that some newspaper had done a top 100 British actresses list, and guess what. SHE WASN'T EVEN FLIPPIN' ON IT!!!!!!!!! That makes me so mad. She is one of the best actresses evah. After this long intro, here is some VIP stuff.

The V.I.Ps

Cast:

• Elizabeth Taylor - Frances Andros
• Richard Burton - Paul Andros
• Louis Jourdan - Marc Champselle
• Elsa Martinelli - Gloria Gritti
• Margaret Rutherford - Duchess of Brighton
• Maggie Smith - Miss Mead
• Rod Taylor - Les Mangrum
• Orson Welles - Max Buda

Plot:
Famous actress Frances Andros is flying out to New York from a London airport to get a connecting flight to Jamaica for a holiday escorted to the airport by millionaire husband Paul Andros. What he doesn't know is that she is really eloping aging playboy Marc Champselle because she is despairing of his checkbook generosity in place of emotion.

Les Mangrum is about to fly to New York to stop his business being sold, all of which has to be done within 24 hours. His secretary Mrs. Mead (who is secretly in love with him) is doing everything she can to ensure a safe journey for him.

The Duchess of Brighton is traveling to Florida to become a hostess at a resort in an attempt to save her stately home with the new money she will be earning.

Max Buda, movie tycoon has to leave London by midnight to avoid a hefty British tax bill. He takes his new protégée, Gloria Gritti with him.

But then a thick layer of fog moves in around the airport and they are all grounded. Leaving time for Frances and Marc to be descovered, Les to lose his business, The Duchess to go crazy with all of her hypocondriac pills and Max Buda to lose a fortune...

The Review:
This film (much like Maggie Smith) does not get the credit it deserves! It has amazing acting in it and great script! I love the Taylor/Burton story, but my favourite is the Taylor (Rod)/Smith story. There is a hilarious scene on a plane where Margaret Rutherford's hat box keeps falling on this Sidney Poitier lookalike's head. Great film. I gotta start reviewing some bad ones. All my reviews are of good films!



Ok, so I have one film I don't really want to rewatch; Suddenly Last Summer. Elizabeth Taylor in a mental asylum, Katherine Hepburn in a tropical garden in an advance state of insanity, Montgomery Clift as a brain surgeon and some guy in a white suit being eaten by cannibals. Disturbing on so many levels. Joseph Mankiewicz at his worst co-writing with Tennessee Williams.

As my blogger friend Libby posted the other day, I love listening to Doris day's christmas album. She is so cheerful and christmassy. I especially like her rendition of "White Christmas".




~Bette