The Criterion Collection

In the most dazzling debut feature in cinema history, 25-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.