Citizen Kane-boyhood

Buddy Swan as the young Charles Foster Kane in Orson Welle's 'Citizen Kane.' Haunting photography starkly shows the solitude of the boy, hinting at the forces which will shape his life.

[@zakbrownrigg1]

This movie is like the antithesis of Its a Wonderful Life

[@richardsiciliano7117]

Notice how the father stands with his hands behind his back. We see Kane stand that way a couple of times later in the film. The attention to detail in this film is incredible.

[@jordanenby9734]

I watched the film recently and I didn't see that until I read this, that really is good attention to detail.

[@notnek202]

As children we can’t wait to grow up and as adults we long for childhood.

[@josetrevino730]

I read up on this film long before I watched it, I knew what Rosebud was going into my first time seeing this. Even though I knew, I found it difficult watching this scene without getting all choked up. All I could picture was my son, how anyone could do something like this regardless of the money. This was Kane in really his only moment that we the audience see him truly happy, a moment that he would long for at the end of his life.

[@joshmclendon3718]

"I'm asking you for the last time...anybody who thinks i haven't been a good husband or father....." "The sum of 50,000 dollars a year will be paid to you and Mr Kane as long as you both live" "Well let's hope it's all for the best"

[@MultiCrimsonRain]

Money, the most persuasive force on the planet.

[@TheSMLIFfilms]

Foreshadowing?

[@andrewmcdonald1614]

lol

[@catsadilla324]

you have to remember that USD$50,000 in the later part of the 19th century is equivalent to about $1.5 million today. I mean.... a grubby boy or a good fortune..... is there even a question?

[@Gr8Layks]

m I o . o I m You’re sick in the head.

[@Ofinfinitejest]

This is one of the harshest, most meaningful scenes ever put on film.

[@MissKateSamuels]

Rosebud represented his childhood. He lost it when they sent him away

[@Rodrigoteacher]

Sezja Atrinae Orson once said something like"perhaps human's greatest tragedy of all is the lost of innocence" Rosebud!

[@MissKateSamuels]

Rodrigo Serrano Hm, that's a good one...

[@TheSMLIFfilms]

Rosebud. Incredibly profound, yet oh so simplistic.

[@summer-c7i]

Rosebud, his only true friend

[@scmayo]

spoiler alert!?!?

[@Jojoateyt]

I love how they talk over each other.

[@crimsondynamo615]

It actually feels like a natural conversation. It’s something that this and Howard Hawks movies i love that do this.

[@killer92173]

@@crimsondynamo615 even Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorcese use this technique.

[@christophercompton274]

I interrupted someone while they were talking once and mum told me off. So after that I would wait until the other person had finished speaking before I spoke.

[@chloesheler1927]

This was heartbreaking to watch, but in a good way. Beautifully done, complete artwork.

[@ProffesorObvious]

I love the way he's framed in the window; it's like Thatcher might as well say "I want that boy--the one in the window!"

[@VardaoftheStars]

Fantastic observation. Precisely. Window-shopping.

[@sketchygetchey8299]

Clever how they hid Rosebud so well 🌹

[@bigstar66]

HOLY SHIT I JUST NOTICED SOMETHING!!! 3:10 “You’re gonna see Chicago and New York and Washington maybe!” Chicago - Kane built the municipal opera house. New York - Kane put his headquarters there. Washington MAYBE - Kane wants to MAYBE be president before shooting himself in the foot.

[@sha11235]

He didn't run for President, but Governor.

[@ravishingravi]

The kid looks quite like Orson Welles.

[@anggaperkasa8119]

I watсhееd Citizеn Каnе full mоviееe hеrе twitter.com/599e5c352338de337/status/795841908022984704 Citizеn Кaanе bоуhооd

[@ashtonreid849]

ravishingravi uyww

[@bazookabrett4136]

hardly a cut in the whole sequence. masterful work

[@pedrobakale7180]

these nasty adults prepare the future and the rest of Kane's life, while he has fun in the snow. that's cruel

[@lordalessan]

Preparing him for a good education as he makes a lot of money. Those bastards.

[@ellajones9787]

@@lordalessan And what good did it do him? Two failed marriages, his only child dead, vultures picking at him, enemies everywhere, virtually no friends, family gone, and finally dying alone and almost forgotten surround by hoarded junk. Yeah, those bastards.

[@NKW897]

Well it’s also kind of hinted that the father is abusive and that is why she wants to send the boy away

[@CommentGangStrong]

@@NKW897 spare the rod spoil the child, it's his mother who is worrisome.

[@tammiwhami]

Yep that Very Deep Focus. Anges Moorehead is Excellent. One of the Best 4 minute in film history.

[@doublenegativetactical1402]

I'm a single father. This shit breaks my heart so much.....

[@brianvirgin2995]

This scene is really heartbreaking.

[@wvcricker5683]

Agnes Morehead was such an under rated actress... She was not only an amazing actress, but also beautiful

[@aslater5]

I just realized this was the mother in Bewitched.

[@erikfreitas7093]

She was great in “The Magnificent Ambersons”, another Orson Welles film

[@Coganboy]

This to me is the definition of a true irony. The father, while he's tough and abrasive (implied abusive), probably would've done better for the boy considering how the movie ends. Kane missed his childhood and innocence more than anything.

[@dkupke]

While the father does come across as borderline abusive, he is actually showing a genuine interest in his son. The mother passes him off to a practical stranger with a gesture. Kane's relentless pursuit of excess in his later life is overcompensation of his feelings of loneliness from being raised in an unloving environment that was forced onto him, and his tendency to push away the people who actually do care about him is because he fears abandonment, as his parents abandoned him.

[@Coganboy]

Daniel Ryan Bingo. But honestly, I didn't think the dad was abusive. It's strange, but my dad spanked me when I was younger, and I don't look at it like abuse. I look at it like he cared enough about me to care that I did the right thing and acted appropriate. While the mother is almost in a friggin trance!

[@dkupke]

Coganboy I'm crossing into fanfiction here, but I think it is obvious the parents do not have a good marriage. The father is noticeably older than the mother, and is, for lack of a better term, seems to be a simpler man, not quite as sophisticated as the younger mother. Her complete lack of emotion and the fact that she seems to have deliberately intended for the property that produces their sudden wealth to be in her name alone implies a longstanding marital split. So I suspect she is transferring her emotions onto her son; in her mind, by getting him out of these humble surroundings and away from the man she so resents, she is ensuring a better life for her son. But what she really wants is those things for herself, and by pushing them on her son she is actually setting him up for a lifetime of personal failures.

[@johnbonaccorsi]

The mother doesn't pass him off with a gesture. She's obviously numb with pain, as she's about to send her son away forever. In the scene's first moment, while Thatcher is patiently waiting for her to sign the documents, her attention is entirely on Charles, to whom she's calling, whom she's advising to bundle up, against the cold. It's only as the moment of truth approaches that she steels herself, calls with a voice that she struggles to keep sober, firm, but that breaks: "Charles!" What genuine interest is the father showing? In front of Mr. Thatcher, yes, he's gentle with the boy. Do you think there are no abusive fathers who manage to appear fatherly when their children and they are in front of others? The moment he's under stress, the façade breaks: "What that kid needs is a good thrashing." The mother has no choice but to get Charles out of there.

[@ashleymorris9657]

@@johnbonaccorsi Exactly, the mother knows it’s only a matter of time before the father starts abusing Charles the same way he has abused her. Hence the line, “That’s why he’s going to be brought up where you can’t get at him.” She would rather send her only child away and never to see him again, than watch him endure the same abuse she has had to endure over the years. It doesn’t get any more self-sacrificial or motherly than that.

[@ralphmoran681]

You can see the influences of this film in so many movies today. People take for granted the evolution of cinema. We had to evolve to the point we’re at, and while it seems like it took forever, it was actually pretty damn fast.

[@emily7103]

Wow. Absolutely stunning cinematography for the time.

[@markhager2216]

“that property is as much as mine as it is hers, now that it’s valuable...” lol. The kid playing young Charles is fantastic. This cuts out before one of my favorite scenes where it’s “Merry Christmas, Charles” to the young boy “and a happy new year...” as he’s dictating the letter to Charles when he comes into full inheritance.

[@lordalessan]

The way Charles greets his father shows that even though he is abusive, he loved his father and probably would’ve had a happier life with him.

[@SymphonyBrahms]

No child can have a happy life with an abusive parent.

[@KarasuInaiga]

@@SymphonyBrahms Subjectively happier, not objectively happy. It's a matter of perspective, not absolutes.

[@Literallyryangosling777]

@@SymphonyBrahms times were diferent back then

[@JV-jg1tn]

@@SymphonyBrahms happier than a worse foster system or the streets

[@killer92173]

@SymphonyBrahms I don't think he comes off as Abusive. Back in those days, parents would think it's okay to whip you with a belt. what I think is despite his harsh punishment, he seems to be a caring father and you can tell he's trying hard to cheer up the boy. Honestly if you ask me, the mother is the true villain of the story cuz she's the one that sent him away, and what led him to a unhappy life.

[@p_ash2591]

Peut-être la meilleure séquence jamais réalisée. Le reste du film et les décennies qui suivront pourront me donner tort, mais TOUT y est parfait. La mise en scène, le jeu et les mouvements des acteurs (rien que le père qui se tient voûté pour ne pas être plus grand que le banquier). Tout est parfait

[@theboombody]

I can't believe the lady in this scene is Endora from Bewitched. Who would have ever thought that she was a gorgeous woman earlier in her career? Seriously, I can't even recognize her.

[@the.seagull.35]

That deep focus

[@rameshsunar201]

This scene has so much depth. And gives meaning to the ending. Makes my eyes watery

[@fw5995]

I just realized how this was clearly mirrored by George Lucas when he wrote the origin story for Anakin Skywalker. Hell, Darth Vader really is Charles Foster Kane in space lol

[@scummbaggery]

Old movie but damn heart breaking.

[@pookerville]

I recognize the music...I heard it in the TCM doc "100 Years At The Movies."

[@machinerage6941]

lol im here because of a senior project about deep focus

[@sarans4004]

I'm also here because of deep focus lol

[@borbetomagus]

Another explained the deep focus here as 'Depth as Fate'.

[@ragejoona431]

Just think how hard it was to block the end of the scene so that nobody could see what's written on the sled. I know it's kept off screen most of the time, but when Charlie hits him, the actors had to be positioned perfectly so that nobody would see it.

[@jamesm2078]

I watched this in my Video Production class when going over shallow/deep focus and this is a really good example of that.

[@jamesmcdonough6523]

The outfits look like they're out of Charles Dickens work.

[@aslater5]

Well it is supposed to be the Victorian era

[@quinna5537]

It's 1871, the same year Chicago went up in flames

[@jeffreyyoung4364]

my five favorite american films: citizen kane, the godfather, raging bull, city lights, vertigo.

[@bigstar66]

All great picks

[@user-pw4rw3nz7y]

The pivotal scene in this film! Everything about it is fantastic. Prof. Dr. Dr. H. James Birx, New York

[@AndNowLadiesandGents]

Money, who needs it, I'll settle for a sledge.

[@rappadapp]

RooooseBuuudd.....

[@Crackmode119]

🐻 Bobo

[@beyondz55]

One of the most amazing cinema scenes in history

[@directedbyerick1652]

"You almost hurt me!" lol hilarious

[@RootbeerAndBeans]

and both have beautiful scores!

[@ivorharden]

Rosebud was the name of his sled which gets burned at the end of the film. Although he had money and a marriage, Rosebud was the only thing to give him happiness within his life.

[@hcombs0104]

The late, great Agnes Moorehead.👏 The beginning of her film career. Too bad she couldn't get an earlier start in film. Would she have had more of a chance of playing leads?

[@lxH4WK3Rxl]

This movie is heaven

[@bruisemeister]

I swore when I first saw this on VHS that he uttered the word Rosebud when he was out playing.

[@christophercompton274]

Notice that the interior scene was all done in one shot. Likewise with most of the following exterior scenes. All credit goes to the cameraman, cast and director who all have to work as one. These days there is a lot of different angles and editing of short clips in films.

[@andrewmcdonald1614]

Why would Mr. Thatcher want to raise a kid who obviously hates his guts? If I was Thatcher I'd be like "I already have more money than I ever could possibly spend. I don't need this shit."

[@petersmithyy4556]

The music steals me

[@rufuspipemos]

$50,000 per year in 1871 is now $1,096,000 per year. "Well... hope it works out for the best!" LOL.

[@temmy9]

Charles had a weak father. Everything else flows from that.

[@moonsmonsters]

There's a scene analysis that does it better but here's a paraphrase The father had no power in this scene. The bank guy didn't pay him any attention. The mom had all the power. She sold her son away. This is still the case for many fathers today.

[@aa-th2vj]

But what is a weak father. How do you become one. We must think fundamentally

[@TheCoolProfessor]

What some consider the best is an incontestable act of cruelty.

[@rowandavis3376]

THE CHAIR MOVES 1:57

[@VixxKong2]

The crew moved it out of the way of the camera

[@hanksam9854]

Music in this movie at times reminds one of the music of Taxi Driver. No surprise, since it's the same composer.

[@disgruntledpedant2755]

The father seems like a good guy to me

[@kamdan2011]

Is this when they digitally removed the snow falling because they thought it was grain?

[@davegray2428]

Look at that camera movement

[@malloryavila9762]

how many cuts are made in this scene?

[@CutHardstylez]

why did he adopt the boy in the first place?

[@bigstar66]

The mother gave him away so the father couldn’t beat his ass anymore

[@brendaluv2017]

What kind of like did Charles lived? They believe being rich was the best thing for happiness but it’s not. This movie isn’t far from reality, I can take it that there was real life events that inspired this movie but who knows how many people heed this warning ⚠️

[@DavidJones-ye2if]

0:01-0:19 TCM Presents 100 Years at the Movies.

[@NicholasABerk]

anyone else thinks Jim Kane sounds like Mr. Magoo?

[@Vollidiot39]

padme amedala stole her hair

[@johnisaacraj8908]

Why did the mother send him away? Whats the reasonm

[@H81234]

His mother clearly didn't love him. She wasn't torn up about it or anything. She was so quick to sign those papers.

[@domenicomarzolla3045]

I believe she was trying to get him as far away as possible from his abusive father and to a better future of wealth.

[@axyboo]

she was torn up about it, pay attention to details !!

[@itskelvinn]

wtf was the point of 2:07 "CHARLES" and then ive got his trunk all packed... ive had it packed for a week now

[@johnbonaccorsi]

Knowing she's about to send her boy away forever, so he'll be out of reach of an abusive father, she has steeled herself for the separation. In the scene's first moments, as I said below, to another commenter, her attention is entirely on young Charles, whom she lovingly advises to bundle up, against the cold. As the moment of truth approaches, she suppresses her emotion and calls to the boy with a voice that she struggles to keep firm, sober, but that breaks: "Charles!" It's a masterpiece.

[@jonathanblaze1648]

Also great subtext by Agnes, knowing the mother may be thinking/feeling this is the last time she'll call out to her son, it was a moment for her.

[@ArmyJames]

"The Union Forever!": as his guardianship is signed over to a stranger by his own parents.

[@ringkunmori]

It's always so jarring to hear that the dad is abusive towards Charles when with very little we see of him, he comes off as a nice guy who occasionally disciplines his kid. It makes me think there is a lot more we don't know about the family.

[@taraterm3]

I dont understand why the boy was sent away...couldnt Mom have gone with him? she had zillion dollars at her disposal, she could have left her no good husband and gone off to raise the boy herself, or at least put him in a great school and visited him all the time. There doesnt seem to be a coherent reason why she couldnt have been part of the boys life.I always thought this was a major plot fail...and assumed she was terminelly ill and wouldnt be around for the boy and wanted to make sure he was in good hands {not the fathers} before she passed on, but there's no indication that she was dying.Would have been so easy too...they could have had her watching through a window and then focused in on a bottle of pills or given her a tubercular cough or something.

[@brendaluv2017]

On another track it could be she never wanted the boy or believed there was no other way that’s just theory

[@HenryConway007]

And we got STAR WARS: EPISODE I - THE PHANTOM MENACE because George Lucas wanted to recreate this scene. I know I’m right.

[@name-tn2or]

HenryConway007 what do you mean. Edit: nevermind

[@Demille40]

There’s no way Vertigo is better than this film.

[@ThisbeandPyramus]

Was Fred Graves the boy's biological father?

[@paulb4473]

Rosebud in the very first scene

[@sarafox5792]

but why do they want the boy anyway? how is he worth so much??

[@JustSomeCanadianGuy]

The Bizarro version of Bruce Wayne’s upbringing. He loses his parents without them dying!

[@5ilver42]

I dunno... I've seen the rest of the movie, a good thrashing could have been exactly what he needed.

[@nirgru]

0:12

[@disgruntledpedant2755]

Yeah....she shoulda consulted an attorney before making ironclad contracts with this cityslicker.

[@haanerhhs]

its because she wants him to be safe from his father's abusive and alcoholic behaviour

[@CharlesXavier]

"Charles, would you like to continue living with your loving, natural parents... or would you rather live with this twisted, loveless billionaire?” Charles: (jumps into billionaire’s car) *”Let’s roll!”* 😎

[@ggj1987]

Can anyone explain what happens in this scene? It's probably the most important scene in the whole movie but I don't quite understand it. What happens and why do his parents sign papers to send him away?

[@annakimborahpa]

Mrs. Kane saying "That's why he's going to be brought up where you can't get at him" (4:01- 4:03), in response to her husband saying that young Charles needs a good thrashing, indicates her fear of extreme corporal punishment for the child. It was Mrs. Kane who forces the situation because she alone owns the mining shares and is determined in the hope of getting a better life for her son. Her dour expression throughout the scene indicates the unhappiness of her life which she feels chained to.

[@ggj1987]

But how did they get all that money all of the sudden? I don't get that. They were poor at first, weren't they?

[@annakimborahpa]

Yes, they were poor at first. However, quoting Charles' father from 0:50 to 1:02: "A boarder that beats his bill and leaves worthless stock behind ... that property is just as much my property as anybody's now that it's valuable, and if Fred Graves (the boarder) had any idea all this was going to happen, he'd have made out those certificates in both our names." As owner of the boarding house, Mrs. Kane came into the possession of certificates granting her ownership of a mine, elsewhere referred to in the film as 'the Colorado lode, the world's sixth largest gold mine' or words to that effect.

[@titan133760]

​@@ggj1987Because the seemingly worthless mine that Charles Kane's mother inherited, turned out to have a large deposit of gold, thus making her family instantly weathly

[@diamonddog13]

​@titan133760 I get all that, but why was the contract with Thatcher dependent on giving up guardianship of Charles? Why could the same financial arrangement with the bank not be made without that? And what did Thatcher have to gain by taking on the responsibility of raising the boy?

[@Klemeron]

If I could be as well as Orson Welles, I think I'd be well in my mind to swell with wellness that quells the welling smell in my literal well and all would be well.

[@biancanapoles1725]

I LOVE your avatar!!!!!!!!

[@Klemeron]

@@biancanapoles1725 thanks, i drew it myself quite a while ago

[@justoutofframemoviereviews656]

Rosebud...

[@calebrodriguez9042]

I have bad diarrhea

[@calebrodriguez9042]

nice

[@GeraldinePng]

FREE DOWNLOAD OF SONG ABOUT CITIZEN KANE www.reverbnation.com/geraldinepng/song/1625334-hello-mr-kane

[@qhdevon43]

I have analysed this film in comparison with the ending of the movie where it shows the sled with the rosebud word on it. This sled is NOT the same sled as is used at the end of the movie. Yes I know rosebud is most likley a symbol of his childhood but this movie has a huge error in it in which during the filming of this , they did not use the same sled. No where on this sled i nthis shot do you see the "accent" marks on the sled or the words "rosebud". Yep...Nick at nite classic rerun error!

[@aa-th2vj]

you see part of the rose petal in this scene when he attacks the guy but not the word

[@user-qi6eh2vr6t]

That lady pimped out her own son. That's cold.

[@disgruntledpedant2755]

"We have to stay here." WHY???

[@merrimac290]

The real villain of the movie was the father. His mother should have just divorced his ass and made him poor.

[@lh9591]

Messed up. His mom didn’t do it just for the money, but so Charlie wouldn’t get hit.

[@atreyu4592]

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhadrien

[@Ayvaliklis]

bobo, bobo! I meant lobo, they never should have cancelled that show! Lobo, lobo, bring back sheriff lobo!!

[@JustSomeCanadianGuy]

The mother is so vile to do this. She could have just killed the father and done more for Charles. 😂

[@daborshy4089]

I don't get why people say the dad was bad. There's not enough evidence for that. Charles genuinely deserves an ass-whooping in this scene.

[@GuruJudge21]

An ass-whooping for a child lashing out at the man trying to take him away from his home and separate him from his parents? The fuck? Also, his dad is a bad because he's willing to sell his son for money.

[@daborshy4089]

It's the best decision for all parties involved

[@H81234]

Best decision. He died miserable. He was never happy. He was ripped away from his parents. His parents gave him away for money. They didn't love him. Imagine growing up knowing your parents sold you? I would rather have my parents than all the money in the world.

[@itskelvinn]

3:15 why is the dad so fucking creepy

[@johnbonaccorsi]

Because he's a creep, which is why the mother's getting the boy out of there.

[@ToonReel001]

Did he have to stare blatantly at the camera like that? :P

[@mygoogleemail2063]

The problem with millennials is they never got a good thrashing.

[@TheSMLIFfilms]

This movie sucks 2/10. It's supposed to be winter, but you can't even see the characters breath. It's like they shot this scene on a soundstage in Chicago covered in cornflakes instead of a snowy field in Kenosha.

[@abbygus1]

+TheSMLIFfilms It was 1941. The cameras weren't exactly 1080p.

[@abbygus1]

+TheSMLIFfilms The cinematography was in fact hugely innovative for the time, especially with its use of deep focus and extreme angles.

[@CODMarioWarfare]

+Adam Gustafson Film has a tremendous resolution. Also, you're replying to a grade of trolling that's remarkably vapid, even by post-Google+ KZbin comment standards.

[@manantial773]

You suck.

[@MurrTV]

Why do you think this was shot in Chicago? Gone with the Wind wasn't shot in Atlanta. 2001 wasn't shot on a space ship. Kane was shot on a sound stage at RKO. You are looking at an incredibly compressed image that was recorded off air, probably on VHS tape. My guess is you've never seen this film projected from a clean, 35 mm print, otherwise you wouldn't make such an observation.