HMWYBS: Mid Season Finale
Orson Welles burst on to the cinematic scene in 1941 with Citizen Kane, which has led numerous film polls across the decades as the 'Best Film Ever Made'. (Kane's nearest rivals for the title in frequent pollings here and there seem to be Vertigo and The Godfather) It famously lost all but one of its Oscar nominations (Orson Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz his co-writer took the Original Screenplay prize, Welles' only competitive Oscar) but genius is rarely fully appreciated in its time. Incredibly, the writer/director/actor was only 26 at the time but he was no one hit wonder adding several more classics to his filmography before his death at 70 years of age in 1985. For today's Hit Me With Your Best Shot episode, our midseason finale (the series returns on June 3rd), I asked participants to choose between Citizen Kane (1941), The Magnificent Ambersons (1942, my personal favorite of his), and The Lady From Shanghai (1948) depending on what they felt like watching.
Gawk at beautiful screengrabs from those movies from 10 Best Shot participants. Click on any of them to be taken to the corresponding article singing that shot's praises...
CITIZEN KANE (1941)
5 participants
54 Disney Reviews - first time participant! welcome
Antagony & Ecstasy
The Entertainment Junkie
A Fistful of Films
Allison Tooey
THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (1942)
5 participants
Coco Hits NY
Antagony & Ecstasy
A Fistful of Films
Allison Tooey
Sorta That Guy
THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI (1947)
5 participants
Lam Chop Chop
The Film Experience
Antagony & Ecstasy
A Fistful of Films
Film Actually
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT will return on June 3rd with Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy (1990). More films for the summer TBA... until then tell us your favorite shot or moment from anything Orson Welles in the comments.