Film 23: Citizen Kane (1941)

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Netflix Summary: Orson Welles reinvented movies at the age of 26 with this audacious biography of newspaper baron Charles Foster Kane, which, in essence, was a thinly veiled portrait of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. Welles's complex and technically stunning film chronicles Kane's rise from poverty to become one of America's most influential men -- and it's considered one of the best movies ever made.


A few fun facts from IMDB.com:
*The camera looks up at Charles Foster Kane and his best friend Jedediah Leland and down at weaker characters like Susan Alexander Kane. This was a technique that Orson Welles borrowed from John Ford who had used it two years previously onStagecoach (1939). Welles privately watched Stagecoach (1939) about 40 times while making this film. 
*William Randolph Hearst was so angered by the film that he accused Orson Welles of being a Communist in order to keep the film from being released. 
*During filming Orson Welles received a warning that William Randolph Hearst had arranged for a naked woman to jump into his arms when he entered his hotel room, and there was also a photographer in the room to take a picture that would be used to discredit him. Welles spent the night elsewhere, and it is unknown if the warning was true. 


Note from Juror #3:  This is my all-time favorite movie.  I greatly urge you to watch the documentary about the making of the movie within the special features.  The story behind the story makes the film that much more legendary.





Viewing Due Date: 11/3

Rebecca (1940) Reviews

Juror #3 says: I went through a Hitchcock phase a few years back but had never seen Rebecca.  I find it odd that this picture net him his only Best Picture Oscar when, in my humble opinion, this may not even crack his top 5.  Rebecca seemed more like a play than a film, with long stretches of dialogue.  The positives however included the acting - Lawrence Olivier was sublime as were the entire cast - and the directing was perfect, big surprise.  Hitchcock did a fantastic job creating creepy and suspense-filled scenes through techniques still used today. But no one has ever done a better job of using shadows to help elicit suspense, all lighting professionals should make this a mandatory viewing.  In the end though, having just watched Gone With the Wind, I was slightly disappointed in Rebecca.  I rate it 3/5 


girl by locker says: I wasn’t sure what to expect from Rebecca. I had heard Hitchcock fans think there are better movies made by him and that this shouldn’t have been the only movie of his to win an Oscar. As someone who hasn’t seen much by him, I was prepared to love it, and I did. I hadn’t read the book by Daphne du Maurier, but I am a fan of the Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. It wasn’t that the love story reminded me of Heathcliff and Cathy but rather I got a similar feeling. The dark foreboding, the creepiness of Mrs. Danvers, the tension and apprehension I felt as I watched the second Mrs. de Winter fight to overcome the powerful memory left by Rebecca. The cast was stellar, and I was particularly impressed by Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers who, in my opinion, embodied everything great about the movie. She was subtle and sinister and kept me on the edge of my seat. I give this 5/5 on my Netflix ratings.

Film 22: Rebecca (1940)

Netflix Summary: The only Alfred Hitchcock film to win an Oscar for Best Picture, this mystery stars Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter, a widower whose hapless second wife (Joan Fontaine) moves into his mansion only to find the memory of his first wife still governs the household. Intimidated by the home's hostile staff, the living Mrs. de Winter begins to go mad in Hitchcock's eerie adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier's Gothic classic.


Wikipedia fact: The theatrical release of Rebecca was delayed in order to give it a shot at the 1940 Academy Awards - the 1939 Awards would (obviously) be dominated by Gone with the Wind, another Selznick production.

From Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940)
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Viewing Due Date: 10/12

1939 Film Reviews

Often considered the best year in film history, girl by locker and I decided to watch two films for 1939.  I had already seen Mr Smith Goes to Washington (two thumbs up), and girl by locker had already seen Gone with the Wind.  So here are our reviews.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

girl by locker says: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is one of the movies you’ve heard about all your life. You know who is in it and you even know the general plot outline. Despite all this, you are still completely sucked into the story, along for the ride and cheering for Jefferson Smith (James Stewart, who is amazing) to root out political corruption and get his boys camp built. It is a classic story of good versus evil and though I was initially worried that the characters would either be too evil or too good, it was an unfounded fear.

I loved certain aspects of the camera work as well. There is a scene in which Stewart talks with Senator Paine’s daughter, whom he finds very attractive, and though we hear the conversation all we actually see is Stewart fumbling with his hat, nervously dropping it.

This movie gets 5 out of 5 stars on Netflix, two thumbs up and even a back flip. I liked it that much. My only negative comment is that I thought it wrapped up a little too quickly and neatly…but it is a minor observation on what is obviously a masterpiece.

Gone with the Wind

Juror #3 says: So I had obviously heard a lot about Gone with the Wind and had even quoted the movie - "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" - about a million times.  But I was extremely unaware of the depth of the film.  Forget the fact that while we are choosing movies year-by-year in witness of the advancements in filmmaking, and Gone with the Wind could, technically, be made today without question, the real impact made upon me was the depth of the theme.  Here we played out the civil war in all its intricate detail side-by-side with a tale of human nature.  The tale's main characters were chasing love, sometimes mixed with entitlement, during a time where the nation was at war, it could be said, over those very two ideas.  The acting was so good that at times I wanted to forward through Scarlett O'Hara's scenes because I despised her.  And I love that in the end I'm not sure whether to believe in her attempt at reconciliation.  There haven't been many movies in my life that I felt really examined human nature in a unbiased way.  And then you weave in the Civil War with similar scenes and I've just witnessed an enduring masterpiece for all the right reasons.  I've, naturally, rated it a 5/5 on Netflix.