Citizen Kane (1941) [The Criterion Collection]

Director: Orson Welles
Writer: Herman J. Mankiewicz (original screen play), Orson Welles (original screen play), John Houseman (contributing writer)
Stars: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore

In the most dazzling debut feature in cinema history, twenty-five-year-old writer-producer-director-star Orson Welles synthesized the possibilities of sound-era filmmaking into what could be called the first truly modern movie. In telling the story of the meteoric rise and precipitous fall of a William Randolph Hearst–like newspaper magnate named Charles Foster Kane, Welles not only created the definitive portrait of American megalomania, he also unleashed a torrent of stylistic innovations—from the jigsaw-puzzle narrative structure to the stunning deep-focus camera work of Gregg Toland—that have ensured that Citizen Kane remains fresh and galvanizing for every new generation of moviegoers to encounter it.

Extras:
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Three audio commentaries: from 2021 featuring Orson Welles scholars James Naremore and Jonathan Rosenbaum; from 2002 featuring filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich; and from 2002 featuring film critic Roger Ebert
- The Complete "Citizen Kane" (1991), a rarely seen feature-length BBC documentary