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.
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Three audio commentaries, featuring Orson Welles scholars James Naremore and Jonathan Rosenbaum, filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, and film critic Roger Ebert
-
The Complete “Citizen Kane” (1991), a rarely seen feature-length BBC documentary
- New interviews with critic Farran Smith Nehme and film scholar Racquel J. Gates
- Two video essays, by film scholar Robert L. Carringer and filmmakers David Cairns and Randall William Cook
- New program by film scholars and effects experts Craig Barron and Ben Burtt
- Interviews from 1990 with editor Robert Wise; actor Ruth Warrick; optical-effects designer Linwood Dunn; Bogdanovich; filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Henry Jaglom, Martin Ritt, and Frank Marshall; and cinematographers Allen Daviau, Gary Graver, and Vilmos Zsigmond
- New documentary featuring archival interviews with Welles
- Interviews with actor Joseph Cotten from 1966 and 1975
-
The Hearts of Age, a brief silent film made by Welles as a student in 1934
- Television programs from 1979 and 1988 featuring appearances by Welles and Mercury Theatre producer John Houseman
- Program featuring a 1996 interview with actor William Alland on his collaborations with Welles
- Selection of The Mercury Theatre on the Air radio plays featuring many of the actors from Citizen Kane
- Production stills
- Newsreel footage
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: Deluxe packaging, including a book with an essay by film critic Bilge Ebiri
New Cover by Mike McQuade
