Rosebud was a sled

In the olden days of the 20th century I used to watch the Tonight show, sometimes even after the monologue !  One thing that Johnny Carson did was to have guest hosts on his days off.  My memory tells me that at least once Orson Welles was the guest host.  One of his first guests that night was a young lady (in her flight suit) who did the traffic reports in LA.  Orson was still interested in girls :)  Another guest that night was Terri Garr who I think surprised Orson by asking a technical question about Citizen Kane, I couldn't find the clip on youtube but it was about this shot.

 

Orson answered her question and I think he was impressed and flattered that Ms. Garr knew that much about one of his movies.

Citizen Kane was Orson Welles' first movie and many judge it to be not only his best but possibly the best movie ever made.  Certainly it's an interesting movie, an exaggerated telling of the William Randolph Hearst story.  The camera work is quite modern, lots of camera motion and low angles.  It almost seems like the film wants to prove that the indoor sets had ceilings - that the walls didn't end just above 8 feet  :)

Re-viewing Citizen Kane after all this time (it was shown on PBS Wisconsin, 10-15-2022) it really is quite a good movie.  The money is up there on the screen.  Black and white photography was always my favorite.  No attempt is made with black and white to re-produce reality, just to record an impression of what has happened.  Black and white photography is an elemental thing, just a little clear celluloid, a little gelatin and varying amounts of silver.  In the hands of a storyteller like Orson Welles the movie, Citizen Kane has made a lasting impression on even my suspect memory with just that little bit of light modulated by silver.

Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm