Citizen Kane

    The famous 1941 film Citizen Kane is known as the number one critic's choice of all time. People talked about it, T.V. shows parodied the famous opening such as The Simpsons' fifth season episode simply titled Rosebud. This movie shows that the most loved thing in a person's life may not be a living thing but a beloved object from a period of time.
    The film starts out showing a No Trespassing sign outside of the Xanadu (Kanes private estate). It closes in on the elderly Kane lying in bed holding a snowglobe. With his dying breath he utters "Rosebud.." and lets go of the snowglobe letting the audience know that Kane had died. A reporter named Jerry Thompson hears what Kane's last word was and tries to find out it's meaning. Later a flashback shows Kane at his youth playing in the snow with his sled when he is told he will be taken away from his home by Walter Parks Thatcher to be educated. The director of the movie Orson Welles (who became famous for his 1938 radio broadcast War of the Worlds) also starred as the main character Charles Foster Kane, a unhappy billionare. He married two times and had one son. Unfortunately, Kane's only son dies in a motor accident with Kane's wife. When his second wife left him he got outraged and tore apart her room. He got to a snowglobe and picked it up, walking out of the room with tears in his eyes he muttered "Rosebud..." and passed by all of his shocked workers slowly. When the flashback of that scene fades out it shows Kane's butler telling Jerry that was the one of the two times he heared him say Rosebud, the other time including Kane's last word. They finally give and say that maybe Rosebud was something he did not gain in life. At the end of the movie, in the basement of the Xanadu, people were throwing Kane's belongings into the furnace. They got to Kane's sled and threw it into the flames. The light eluminated the words on the sled which wrote out Rosebud.
    If I would not have heard the ending over and over I would have been surprised. This movie was a timeless classic showing that money indeed cannot buy happiness. I am going to give this movie a 4.5 out of 5. The reason for that rating is that the movie was sort of boring. After watching this film I am not surprised that Citizen Kane is the number one critic's choice.

Gone With the Wind

In 1939, Victor Fleming filmed a movie starring Clark Gable and 1939's Academy Award winner for best actress Vivien Leigh based off a 1936 novel. That film would soon become one of the most famous pictures of all time, and that movie was known as Gone With the Wind. This war slash romance movie had a great plot with just as great effects, acting, quotes, and actors. This movie is excellent at showing its work on researching the history and the technology they had back in the 1860's to the 1870's. The Technicolor did it's job in making the color intensely vivid adding a nice bright touch to the movie.

            This movie takes place during the infamous Civil War. Vivien Leigh stars as the young pampered Scarlet O'Hara who is deeply in love with Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard). Soon Ashley joins the Confederate Army along with all the other able men. Later Scarlett leaves Atlanta burning to the ground with Melaine and Prissy to go to her hometown Tara guided by Rhett Butler. Later she marries Rhett and have her first daughter Bonnie. Sadly, Bonnie later dies the same way as her grandfather, falling off a horse. with nothing left worth while, Rhett leaves the city Tara alone, when Scarlett tries to stop him he says on of the greatest quotes in cinematic history "Frankly my dear, I don't give damn."

As much as I like this movie I have to say that this film excedes it's limit in drama. Scarlett's character shows a bright young woman, but she is such a pampered spoiled brat. She constantly whines and she marries men for their money and also to make Ashley jealous. Secondly I think this movie could have been shorter than it is. Now for the rating, in all I will give it a 4 out of 5 stars. This movie is a classic and it will be for years to come.