great comic!
“There’s a reason everyone recognizes “Rosebud,” even if they don’t know what it means.”
I just looked it up. I never knew the term rosebud apart from an actual rosebud. I never saw anything from Orson Welles and i have no idea who or what citizen kane is.
“But?…” But what?! RENT IT! GO OUT AND BUY IT! SEE IT NOW!
Can I ask how old you are? I think most people have probably seen a “Rosebud” reference at some point in their life. Even if they don’t know they’re seeing it at the time.
I live on Cayman Brac, within the Cayman islands. There are no theaters on island (the horror), and DVD rental stores will NOT have a movie that came out more than six months ago so I’m out of luck for finding it through those channels. I’ll try ordering it from amazon.
I was going to feel sorry for you for not having seen Citizen Kane, until you told me you live on the Cayman Islands. I feel sorry for me.
Is the film over-hyped? Possibly. I know the first time that I watched it, I thought it was slow and boring. Chalk it up to being an older film. Smash cuts and editing have ruined the audience’s sense of patience in modern movies.
But from a film-history stand point, the movie is a masterpiece. You might get more out of it if you watch it with someone else, so you can discuss it later. I strongly encourage that you do a little research on the movie first. The way it mirror’s Welles’s battle with publisher William Randolph Hearst is quite interesting.
There’s one thing that always bothered me about Citizen Kane. At the beginning of the film, Charles Foster Kane dies at home alone, his last owrd being Rosebud. For the rest of the film, everybody is trying to figure out what rosebud means. Question is, if Kane died alone, how does anybody know hat his last words were? One of the supposedly greatest films ever predicated on a plot hole you could drive a (Jay) Sherman tank through!
It’s been a few years since I watched it, but thought there was a nurse who was tending to Kane that overheard his last words as she came into the room to check on him?
I don’t think there was a scene with the nurse where she said “…and his last words were ‘Rosebud’!” though. So maybe that’s the plot hole you’re referring to?
Rumor has it that someone involved in the film asked Orson Welles just that. Welles reportedly stood silent for a while and then said “No one must know of this.”
Actually, I’d say CK is a little overhyped. People say it was first this and first that, but everything in CK was done in Germany during the 20s. Also I’d say that most of Welles other movies are better and more enjoyable. The Trial FTW! Still a great movie though.
Tom, if I recall correctly, (it has also been a few years since I’ve watched the film,) the nurse comes in after he has died. The sound of the now globe shattering is what alerts her to something wrong.
Supposedly, when someone told Welles about the mistake that Remillard noticed, he was silent for a minute or so and then said “Don’t tell anyone about this”. I usually just chalk it up to reporters of that time being just that amazing at their jobs (but not quite amazing to look through his stuff before it’s burned).
And in defense of Welles’ later films, Kane was the only one where he had complete and total control over it. Later ones had budget problems and the studio doing the editing (the studio did a lot of chopping on The Magnificent Ambersons, for instance). So it’s entirely probable that Welles still had the talent, he just didn’t have the creative control.
Plus, Kane didn’t get a lot of it’s heavy acclaim for years and years, so I don’t think he was trying to copy it’s ‘success’ from the beginning.
There is a great deal of revisionist history taking place in this comic, Dragon. Largely because Tom is focusing on the latter stages of Welles’s career rather than the early part.
But I think Welles did experience some of Kane’s notarity in his lifetime. I think there was a certain expectation to live up to. Some of that was his own design, but still.
First time I heard a CK reference I was 6 and watching the Simpsons; Bobo. See I always enjoyed Orson Welles’ voicework history because I like to think he just enjoyed pissing people off. Fooled all of America with War of the Worlds, and he was so busy during his radio play days that he’d have cars waiting for him outside studios to drive him to his different gigs and they’d whisper something like “80 year old chinese guy.” to him and he’d just read off the script. Other actors didn’t like it because during commercials he’d comment on whether or not he thought the story was good.
The frozen peas incident was parodied again on Pinky and the Brain (with Brain voiced by Maurice LeMarche, who voiced Welles in the Critic clip). It’s much longer and drawn out, though.
The frozen peas thing from The Critic is one of my favorite jokes of all time. That was such a great show, wish it was still on.
great comic!
“There’s a reason everyone recognizes “Rosebud,” even if they don’t know what it means.”
I just looked it up. I never knew the term rosebud apart from an actual rosebud. I never saw anything from Orson Welles and i have no idea who or what citizen kane is.
I would love to watch but…
“But?…” But what?! RENT IT! GO OUT AND BUY IT! SEE IT NOW!
Can I ask how old you are? I think most people have probably seen a “Rosebud” reference at some point in their life. Even if they don’t know they’re seeing it at the time.
I’m 17 yrs old
I live on Cayman Brac, within the Cayman islands. There are no theaters on island (the horror), and DVD rental stores will NOT have a movie that came out more than six months ago so I’m out of luck for finding it through those channels. I’ll try ordering it from amazon.
Is it possible that this film is over-hyped?
black,
I was going to feel sorry for you for not having seen Citizen Kane, until you told me you live on the Cayman Islands. I feel sorry for me.
Is the film over-hyped? Possibly. I know the first time that I watched it, I thought it was slow and boring. Chalk it up to being an older film. Smash cuts and editing have ruined the audience’s sense of patience in modern movies.
But from a film-history stand point, the movie is a masterpiece. You might get more out of it if you watch it with someone else, so you can discuss it later. I strongly encourage that you do a little research on the movie first. The way it mirror’s Welles’s battle with publisher William Randolph Hearst is quite interesting.
“Afterwords, it’ll be back to making fun of what’s currently in theaters!”
Haha. Great line, Tom.
There’s one thing that always bothered me about Citizen Kane. At the beginning of the film, Charles Foster Kane dies at home alone, his last owrd being Rosebud. For the rest of the film, everybody is trying to figure out what rosebud means. Question is, if Kane died alone, how does anybody know hat his last words were? One of the supposedly greatest films ever predicated on a plot hole you could drive a (Jay) Sherman tank through!
It’s been a few years since I watched it, but thought there was a nurse who was tending to Kane that overheard his last words as she came into the room to check on him?
I don’t think there was a scene with the nurse where she said “…and his last words were ‘Rosebud’!” though. So maybe that’s the plot hole you’re referring to?
Now now now, Tom. You’re dissing Unicron, the Transformer that almost ate Cybertron!
Remilliard,
Rumor has it that someone involved in the film asked Orson Welles just that. Welles reportedly stood silent for a while and then said “No one must know of this.”
Actually, I’d say CK is a little overhyped. People say it was first this and first that, but everything in CK was done in Germany during the 20s. Also I’d say that most of Welles other movies are better and more enjoyable. The Trial FTW! Still a great movie though.
Tom, if I recall correctly, (it has also been a few years since I’ve watched the film,) the nurse comes in after he has died. The sound of the now globe shattering is what alerts her to something wrong.
Supposedly, when someone told Welles about the mistake that Remillard noticed, he was silent for a minute or so and then said “Don’t tell anyone about this”. I usually just chalk it up to reporters of that time being just that amazing at their jobs (but not quite amazing to look through his stuff before it’s burned).
And in defense of Welles’ later films, Kane was the only one where he had complete and total control over it. Later ones had budget problems and the studio doing the editing (the studio did a lot of chopping on The Magnificent Ambersons, for instance). So it’s entirely probable that Welles still had the talent, he just didn’t have the creative control.
Plus, Kane didn’t get a lot of it’s heavy acclaim for years and years, so I don’t think he was trying to copy it’s ‘success’ from the beginning.
There is a great deal of revisionist history taking place in this comic, Dragon. Largely because Tom is focusing on the latter stages of Welles’s career rather than the early part.
But I think Welles did experience some of Kane’s notarity in his lifetime. I think there was a certain expectation to live up to. Some of that was his own design, but still.
First time I heard a CK reference I was 6 and watching the Simpsons; Bobo. See I always enjoyed Orson Welles’ voicework history because I like to think he just enjoyed pissing people off. Fooled all of America with War of the Worlds, and he was so busy during his radio play days that he’d have cars waiting for him outside studios to drive him to his different gigs and they’d whisper something like “80 year old chinese guy.” to him and he’d just read off the script. Other actors didn’t like it because during commercials he’d comment on whether or not he thought the story was good.
“There’s a reason everyone recognizes “Rosebud,” even if they don’t know what it means.” You could say the same of James Bond 😛
The frozen peas incident was parodied again on Pinky and the Brain (with Brain voiced by Maurice LeMarche, who voiced Welles in the Critic clip). It’s much longer and drawn out, though.
Eh, you, like most everyone, are neglecting Orson Welles’ late career masterpiece on forgeries and con artists, F For Fake.