CITIZEN KANE MINUTE #5 - And A Happy New Year
The greatest film of all time, five minutes at a time.
- Minutes 20:00-25:00
- Special Guest: Podcaster Trey Hooks
Join the conversation and find more great content:
MOVIES BY MINUTES – http://moviesbyminutes.com
Follow CITIZEN KANE MINUTE on Twitter: @CKaneMinute
E-MAIL: firewaterpodcast@comcast.net
You can find CITIZEN KANE MINUTE on these platforms:
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/citizen-kane-minute/id1557061579
- Amazon Music
- Spotify
- Stitcher
This podcast is a proud member of the FIRE AND WATER PODCAST NETWORK:
- Visit the Fire & Water WEBSITE: http://fireandwaterpodcast.com
- Follow Fire & Water on TWITTER: https://twitter.com/FWPodcasts
- Like our Fire & Water FACEBOOK page: https://www.facebook.com/FWPodcastNetwork
- Support The Fire & Water Podcast Network on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fwpodcasts
- Use our HASHTAG online: #FWPodcasts
Thanks for listening!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
“Sorry, Wrong Number” was written for Agnes Moorehead & is worth a listen.
Thanks, Chuck!
Here is a 1971 radio interview where Agnes Moorehead discusses her career and talks a bit of Orson Welles.
http://www.speakingofradio.com/interviews/moorehead-agnes-actress/
I’ve been hesitant to post any comments about the episodes or the film until the episode I guest-host is released as I don’t want to be repetitive. But, some intriguing things came up in this episode I feel compelled to add my two-cents on.
First, it looks like I have another podcast to add to my ever-growing list. Trey’s show examining all the Best Picture Oscar winners sounds pretty cool. I look forward to giving it a try.
Speaking of the Academy Awards, I have to say I can’t agree with you guys on how this year’s Oscars went. I very much liked Promising Young Woman and Carey Mulligan’s performance in it, but neither hold a candle to the complexity and beauty of Nomadland and Frances McDormand’s performance in that film. Also, Chloe Zhao has directed two of the best character-driven films of the last decade: The Rider and Nomadland. I am not at all disappointed to see her good work recognized with an authentic win when she is at the top of her game rather than some conciliatory prize at the end of her career.
As for Citizen Kane, the Thatcher segment has always made it clear to me that there is no character in the film serves as a clear-cut antagonist. Thatcher comes the closest to fitting the bill as he represents the moment Kane’s life changed irrevocably, leaving a massive emotional wound in his life that is never healed. But, Thatcher isn’t that much of a presence throughout the remainder of Kane’s life to say that he is the “bad guy,” even though he does look and sound like he’s first cousins with Mr. Potter from It’s a Wonderful Life. Instead, by reducing Thatcher to the role of nuisance, a minor player in Kane’s later life who sweeps in to wrestle back control of the Kane fortune when opportunity allows (rather than actively pursuing it), this segment begins to emphasize how Kane is going to be both protagonist and antagonist in the story, responsible for his own success as well as his eventual downfall.
In many ways, Thatcher provides the opportunities which ironically would hurt instead of help zKane. He’s the old man the 20 year-old Kane rails against, but later turns into.
Good point. Opportunities in which Kane, at least by the time he’s an adult, must make choices, and those choices are what eventually bring about his ruin.