‘Citizen Kane,’ Filmmaking for All Time

There are those who actually scoff at the suggestion that Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane” is the best American movie ever made. They point to “Gone With the Wind” (oh, please) or “Casablanca” (close, but no Bogey . . . I mean stogie) when rearranging the pedestal.

They’re wrong, of course, but it’s interesting to know that “Citizen Kane,” which opens Friday as part of the Warner Bros. Classics series at AMC 30 at the Block in Orange, was not considered the best movie of the year when it came out in 1941. John Ford’s sentimental “How Green Was My Valley” won the Oscar for best picture. Go figure.

That’s just part of the mystique surrounding “Citizen Kane,” a film that has been wrapped in controversy since the beginning. The story about Charles Foster Kane was seen as a broadside of publisher William Randolph Hearst, and that created political and professional problems for Welles in his early career.

Years later, all that has become irrelevant and does nothing to lessen the movie’s influence. It’s the big, bad giant on the American film scene, scaring away all pretenders with its cinematic splendor. Sure, other pictures may be more popular, but “Citizen Kane” is unsurpassed.

It takes a tale of the American dream wrecked by folly and avarice for a canvas, then uses bold techniques to turn that canvas into something unique. Take the famous opening sequence, for instance: The phantasmic setting of Kane’s retreat, Xanadu, creates a fatalistic tone that stirs just below the surface and lingers throughout the film.

But even with its darkness, “Kane” is more cautionary than oppressive. As critic Pauline Kael once pointed out, “Citizen Kane” may be the most fun of the great movies to watch.

In part, the film’s pleasure comes from mystery. Kane’s dying word, “rosebud,” sets a reporter on a journey to learn who or what rosebud was. As the reporter tries to grasp that truth, the viewer gets glimpses into what formed Kane’s life.

The revelation that something as mundane as a sled played a huge role in that life rings with poignancy in the movie’s final, satisfying scenes.

* “Citizen Kane” opens Friday at AMC 30 at the Block, 20 City Blvd. West, Orange. Not rated. Running time: 1 hour, 59 minutes. (714) 769-4262.

It Happened for Clark Gable

Claudette Colbert was already a big name when “It Happened One Night” came out in 1934. But Clark Gable was another matter.

Nobody knew all that much about the quick-talking hunk before its release. Then he took off his shirt while flirting with Colbert, showed some shoulder on-screen and bang! a star was born. You can see this cute strip-tease tonight as Chapman University begins its Screwball Comedy series.

Besides being good at disrobing, Gable had cool moves and spitfire timing with Robert Riskin’s snappy dialogue. Colbert wasn’t bad herself, and the two generated enough chemistry to satisfy director Frank Capra.

The flick helped establish a principle for romantic comedies: the plot can be meager, as long as there are interesting vibes between the players and enough crackling talk to keep things rolling.

Capra, whose own career zoomed after the picture came out, let the story of a society lady and a threadbare reporter on a cross-country jaunt reel out like a wise-cracking anecdote. Gable, Colbert and Capra let everyone know that romance could be loopy, that love could be a howl.

* “It Happened One Night” screens tonight at 7 at Chapman University’s Argyros Forum, Room 208, 333 N. Glassell St., Orange. Not rated. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes. Free. (714) 997-6765.

Child’s-Eye View in ‘White Balloon’

UC Irvine continues its Between the Laughter & the Tears series Friday with Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s “The White Balloon” (1995).

Panahi focuses his camera on Razieh, a girl about 7, on an adventure through Tehran to buy a goldfish. Along the way, she encounters various odd adults, including a pair of snake charmers who can’t quite keep track of their slithering reptile.

Times movie critic Kenneth Turan enjoyed the small-frame film: “A completely charming, unhurried slice of life, it is both slow and sure-handed as it follows a small but fearsomely determined little girl on her amusing search for just the right goldfish.”

* “The White Balloon” will be shown Friday at 7 and 9 p.m. at Crystal Cove Auditorium in UC Irvine’s student center, corner of West Peltason and Pereira drives. Not rated. Running time: 1 hour, 24 minutes. $2.50-$4.50. (949) 824-5588.

Night of Shorts

The Huntington Beach Art Center will offer “Short Stuff,” an evening of short films curated by Orange County artist-filmmaker Bob Pece. Among those offered: Susan Hornbeak-Ortiz’s “Pearl,” Franklin Joyce’s “And the Universe Expands From Bang,” John Schnitzer’s “Bob Peckerwood,” Jim Torok’s “Paint” and Maggie Miller’s “Soup Is Good Food.”

* “Short Stuff” will screen Friday at 8 p.m. at the Huntington Beach Art Center, 538 Main St., Huntington Beach. Not rated. Running time: about 2 hours. $4-$6. (714) 374-1650.