Citizen Kane

Citzen Kane is a classic masterpiece that throughout the movie the audience is asking "Who is Rosebud?" Kane is a man who suffered from a hard childhood that effects him throughout his whole life. He grows up to be materialistic man who lets his greed, power, and money consume every fiber of his being. This millionaire newspaperman lets his wealth control his life. This drama film was directed and written by Orson Welles and co-written by Herman J. Mankiewicz. The main characters are Joseph Cotten, as Jedediah Leland, Orson Welles, as Charles Foster Kane, Dorothy Comingore, as Susan Alexander Kane, Agnes Moorehead, as Mary Kane, and Ruth Warrick, as Emily Monroe Norton Kane. The release date for Citizen Kane that recieved an Oscar and 4 wins with 9 nominations was May 1, 1941.
The whole ploy is about the investigation of Charles Foster Kane who is one of the richest men in America. His death and last word "Rosebud" causes the investigators to wonder and stop at nothing to find the answers locked away in Kane's past. The movie opens with ashot of the Xanadu, which is the castle of the richest man in America or some say the world. We see him drop a crystal snow globe while reciting his last word. What does "Rosebud" mean? Do the investigators every find out? only the audience knows.
This movie is very interesting because of the mystery of the plot and the lingearing question of Rosebud throughout. As a classic black and white movie, Welles really used the angles of the camera, lighting, and panning to really capture the emotion of the characters. I would recomend this captivating story to anyone besides younger children, who probably wouldn't understand the theme of materialism and idealism.

Mr. Smith goes to Washington

This Amercian History classic Mr. Smith goes to Washington is a very great example of what the government was like in the 1940s and in present day. A government is a system to regulate and have more or less control over a society. Government will always have defaults, a main one being corruption. Jefferson Smith (James Stewart) is a All American man who is thrown into a senate with no expierence. However, he has the qulities that helped him fight for himself at the end of the movie. He stood up and defended himself after being accused of trying to make his own profits through a bill he was trying to present by Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains). Senior Senator Paine and Jefferson Smith had a respect for eachother and were great friends until Senator Paine backstabbed him. He made him look like a fool in front of the whole senate and president but Smith held his ground until everyone believed him and Paine confused for framing him.

The audience of the 1940s would react to this movie in a similar and different way than a contemparay audience. The audience of the 1940s would be able to relate to the life styles of the people and be more uplifted by the ending. There is a sense of hope of good man being in government because there was more morality back then than nowadays. Now, people are constantly manipulating and backstabbing eachother to get ahead. In contrast, people today would look at this mvie and say "I wish we had men like that in America today." Government is so much more corrupt today than back then because the life styles are completely different. In conclusion, both crowds wish for a less corrupt government but the level of corruption is different in each time period.