Useless 80-year-old review says “Citizen Kane” is “a flop” and “gives one the creeps.”
27 April 2021 | Zack Sharf | IndieWire (original review)
Orson Wellesā āCitizen Kaneā is widely regarded as the greatest movie ever made, but it no longer has its 100% score on the review aggregator websiteĀ Rotten Tomatoes.Ā
The filmās perfect score was broken last month afterĀ Rotten TomatoesĀ added a negative review published by the Chicago Tribune almost 80 years ago on May 7, 1941. The 80-year-old review was the 116th review added to the āCitizen Kaneā Rotten Tomatoes page and was the one negative review that ruined Wellesā perfect score.
The Chicago Tribuneās negative āCitizen Kaneā review was published under the pseudonym āMae Tineeā and accompanied with the headline āCitizen Kane Fails to Impress Critic as Greatest Ever Filmed.ā The review was published a few days after āCitizen Kaneā first started rolling out into theaters in 1941. The critic branded the movie āa flopā and wrote that the filmās noir-inspired visuals and use of shadows āgives one the creeps.ā
āItās interesting. Itās different. In fact, itās bizarre enough to become a museum piece,ā the review reads. āBut its sacrifice of simplicity to eccentricity robs it of distinction and general entertainment value.ā
Why did Rotten Tomatoes suddenly add an 80-year-old film review to the āCitizen Kaneā page? A source close to the website tells IndieWire the upload was made in tandem with Rotten TomatoesāĀ previously-announced launchĀ of the RT Archives, anĀ archival hubĀ introduced in November 2020 which houses and preserves editorial content related to classic and historic film.
The website announced at the time that classic films such as āA Night at the Opera,ā āDouble Indemnity,ā āHome of the Brave,ā āVictim,ā āMƤdchen in Uniform,ā āThe Dirty Dozen,ā and āGildaā all got issued new Tomatometer scores as part of the archival initiative.
As part of the archival project, led by review-curation manager Tim Ryan, Rotten Tomatoes also collected reviews for 100 lost films. It is estimated that between 75 and 90 percent of films made before 1929 are either lost or only exist in incomplete form.
āCitizen Kaneā remained a topic of discussion throughout the most recent Oscar season thanks to David Fincherās 10-time nominee and two-time winner āMank,ā which focuses on āCitizen Kaneā screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz.
The movieās script marked the sole Oscar win for āCitizen Kane,ā as it famously lost best picture to John Fordās family drama āHow Green Was My Valley.ā Since āMankā won Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Production Design, it walked home with more Oscars than āCitizen Kaneā itself.