Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guest Niall Murphy, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.
So this week, Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane.
Following the death of Charles Foster Kane, reports of the magnate’s final word slip out to the press. Trying to parse a portrait of the public figure’s life and times, a reporter attempts to discern the meaning of the word, “Rosebud.”
At time of recording, it was ranked 97th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
Show Notes:
- Recorded 9th December 2020.
- Note: Due to the COVID-19 situation, this episode was recorded remotely. We suspect, going forward that a lot of our episodes will be until the crisis resolves.
- Citizen Kane at The Internet Movie Database.
- The Top 250 at time of recording.
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- Read Niall’s articles at Scannain.
- Emily Garbutt at Total Film ranks the best Christmas films that are not really Christmas films, December 2020.
- Alva Noë at NPR discusses The Polar Express and the uncanny valley, January 2012.
- Jeff Vrabel at Fatherly on the horrors of The Polar Express, November 2018.
- Jennifer O’Brien at The Times looks back on Orson Welles’ time in Ireland, August 2018.
- Guy Lodge at The Guardian looks back on Orson Welles’ origins as a painter, August 2018.
- Vanja Mutabdzija Jaksic at CBC reflects on the success of Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds broadcast, September 2020.
- Jefferson Pooley and Michael J. Socolow at Slate discuss the urban legends around Orson Welles’ broadcast of War of the Worlds, October 2013.
- Susan King at The Los Angeles Times looks back on the legacy and impact of Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds, October 2013.
- Time devotes a cover article to Orson Welles, May 1938.
- Chris Carter talks to Vulture about the ambition of The X-Files, August 2013.
- Colin Marshall at Open Culture lists Orson Welles’ top ten films, February 2015.
- Philip Beck at The Journal of the University Film Association compares the work of Orson Welles and John Ford, Summer 1976.
- Orson Welles addresses the American Film Institute, February 1975.
- Gregg Toland writes at Popular Photography Magazine about shooting Citizen Kane, June 1941.
- David Brown at The Atlantic on the legacy and influence of the cinematic language of Citizen Kane, May 2011.
- Nicholas Barber at The BBC discusses how Orson Welles learned to direct films, July 2015.
- Thomas Stackpole at The Smithsonian Magazine on the continuing debate over the writing credit on Citizen Kane, May 2016.
- Richard Brody at The New Yorker on the battle over credit for the screenplay for Citizen Kane, November 2020.
- Bilge Ebiri at Vulture on how Citizen Kane became accepted as “the greatest movie ever made”, December 2020.
- Nigel Andrews at Slate on what makes Citizen Kane the greatest movie ever made, May 2011.
- Bosley Crowther reviews Citizen Kane for The New York Times, May 1941.
- Poster for Citizen Kane, March 1941.
- David Thomson at Sight and Sound discusses the history and legacy of Citizen Kane as the greatest movie ever made, November 2019.
- Owen Gleiberman at Entertainment Weekly reports on the upset of Vertigo topping Citizen Kane as Sight and Sound‘s best movie ever, August 2012.
- Sight and Sound‘s list of best films ever, 1962.
- Roger Ebert discusses Citizen Kane as the favoured film of “the movie elite” in The Chicago Sun Times, August 2002.
- Mark Cousins discusses Orson Welles’ life and career at Deadline, May 2018.
- Joseph McBride at Welles.net on the frustration that Welles fans feel towards Mank, November 2020.
- Roger Ebert offers a viewer’s companion to Citizen Kane at The Chicago Sun Times, January 2004.
- Roger Ebert writes about teaching (and still learning from) Citizen Kane at The Chicago Sun Times, November 2004.
- Kylie Klein-Nixon at Stuff visits Heart Castle, January 2020.
- Ben Child at The Guardian reports on the screening of Citizen Kane at Hearst Castle January 2012.
- Time reports on William Randolph Hearst promising to “furnish the war”, October 1947.
- Ken Lawrence at History News Network on William Randolph Hearst’s infamous telegram, November 2019.
- Laura Martin at Esquire looks back on William Randolph Hearst’s relationship to Citizen Kane, December 2020.
- Orson Welles writes about the relationship between William Randolph Hearst and Charles Foster Kane in the foreword to The Times We Had, 1975.
- Robert Castle at Bright Lights Film Journal on the many influences on Citizen Kane, July 2004.
- Donald Clarke looks back on the career of Hedda Hopper at The Irish Times, February 2006.
- Dalya Alberge at The Guardian looks back on William Randolph Hearst’s efforts to discredit Citizen Kane, March 2016.
- Donnell Stoneman at Greensboro News and Record looks back on the making (and struggles) of Citizen Kane, April 1991.
- Lily Rothman at Time explores how Citizen Kane almost didn’t happen, May 2015.
- Jeff Peterson at Deseret News looks back on the treatment of Citizen Kane at the Academy Awards, February 2013.
- Kristin Thompson at Observations on Film Art reflects on the legacy of How Green is my Valley?, March 2012.
- William Randolph Hearst III admits that he actually quite likes Citizen Kane to IndieWire, April 2017.
- Louise Flatley at The Vintage News looks back on the political sabotage that almost destroyed Citizen Kane, October 2018.
- Adam Scovell at Little White Lies looks back on the troubled history and development of The Magnificent Ambersons, February 2019.
- Barbara Leaming at The New York Times reflects on the “unfulfilled promise” of Orson Welles, July 1985.
- Benjamin Wright at Medium reflects on the innovations of Citizen Kane, January 2019.
- Leigh Singer at The BFI looks back on the incredible visuals of Citizen Kane, May 2016.
- Jacob T. Swinney puts together 100 Years… 100 Shots, April 2016.
- William Friedkin talks to The Directors’ Guild of America about what makes Citizen Kane such a landmark, Summer 2012.
- Tim Burton and Henry Selick talk to Metroactive News about making The Nightmare Before Christmas, November 2000.
- Alison Nastasi at Flavourwire discusses things viewers may not know about Citizen Kane, May 2016.
- Tim Robey at The Telegraph discusses how Orson Welles changed cinema, July 2015.
- David Bordwell at Observations on Film Art discusses how Orson Welles drew from a variety of contemporary sources, Mary 2016.
- Andy Murdock at The University of California reports on a study suggesting that spoilers increase an audience’s enjoyment, May 2016.
- Nigel Andrews discusses the reputation of Citizen Kane for The Financial Times, April 2011.
- Robin Bates and Scott Bates at Cinema Journal on the legacy of “rosebud”, Winter 1987.
- David Thomson at Salon writes about the urban legend that “rosebud” was William Randolph Hearst’s nickname for Marion Davies’ clitoris, July 2000.
- Mark Shrayber at Jezebel on the sex act known as “rosebud”, June 2014.
- News18 reports on how Donald Trump took a page from Citizen Kane in dealing with his electoral loss, November 2020.
- James Owen at The Columbia Tribune argues that Citizen Kane is the perfect movie for 2020, November 2020.
- Matthew Jackson at Mental Floss reports on how Orson Welles turned his skin orange making Citizen Kane, September 2016.
- Stephanie Downs at The Take discusses the revelation that Citizen Kane is Donald Trump’s favourite film, November 2016.
- Alison Willmore writes at Buzzfeed on Donald Trump’s analysis of Citizen Kane, November 2016.
- Errol Morris talks to LitHub about interviewing Donald Trump about Citizen Kane, October 2016.
- Richard A. Blake at America Magazine on the politics of Citizen Kane, July 2016.
- Jeet Heer at The Nation on how Mank returns to the revolutionary politics of Citizen Kane, December 2020.
- The Los Angeles Times offers an obituary of make-up artist Maurice Seiderman, July 1989.
- John Young at Entertainment Weekly talks about the challenges in aging actors up through make-up, November 2011.
- Tara Brady at The Irish Times looks back on the career of Marion Davies, December 2020.
- Amanda Seyfried talks to Den of Geek about the way in which Citizen Kane looms large over the career of Marion Davies, December 2020.
- Joanna Robinson at Vanity Fair on how Citizen Kane unfairly treated Marion Davies, December 2020.
- Moon Film presents side-by-side comparisons of The Simpsons and Citizen Kane, May 2016.
- Lindsay Zoladz at The Ringer on the history and eventual release of The Other Side of the Wind, November 2018.
- Michael Anderegg celebrates The Chimes at Midnight at Criterion, September 2016.
- Jonathan Rosenbaum discusses F for Fake at Criterion, October 2014.
- Groovy History looks back on Orson Welles’ Paul Masson commercials, May 2019.
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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: best film ever, cinema, Citizen Kane, film, gregg toland, history, mank, Movie, niall murphy, orson welles, podcast, The 250 |
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