Citizen Kane

Cinematic anti-heroes have long been an entertainment staple. Think classic characters like Orson Welles’ Charles Foster Kane in Citizen Kane (1941), Malcolm McDowell’s Alex DeLarge, a Golden Globe Nominee for Best Picture-Drama, A Clockwork Orange (1971), and, more recently, the Golden Globe Winning TV Drama Breaking Bad’s protagonist Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston), a mild-mannered, middle school teacher pivoted to the perilous world of big-time drug dealing.

As film-lovers mark the anniversary of one of the most acclaimed movies of all time, the HFPA’s Phil Berk reflects on Orson Welles’ masterpieceIn the seventy-five years since Citizen Kane was first shown, no film in history has been discussed and debated more than Orson Welles's masterpiece. For most film scholars, the only mystery of Citizen Kane is not Rosebud, but whether or not Welles actually wrote it.