"I have never liked Opera, it always sounds off-key to me, was she really that bad?"

"Special effects to die for, or at least for which to have a very bad cold."

"Opera singing to die for! It made my vase explode."

"The power of the press comes down to a girl opera singer? Is this a metaphor for the whore-press manipulation of the public? Oh Orson, you genius, years before your time."

"Painful yet enjoyable. Laughable yet touching. That boy's in love. It's a shame the whole of New York had to suffer for it."

This movie is the life story of Charles Foster Kane (based loosely on William Randolph Hurst) told in nonlinear flashback type way.

Kane is dead. Movie plotted as a mystery. A reporter tries to understand Kane's life, and loves. His last word: Rosebud - what is this? (Answer (The ending): Rosebud was on the sledge he was playing with on the day his mother gave him to his foster father Mr Thatcher...).

Story of Kane's life: Mother signs deal with a Mr Thatcher to take child into his care on a cold, snowy day.

Cut - then he is 25. Kane gets possession of world's 5th largest fortune. Says he is not interested in goldmines, oil wells etc but is interested in running a newspaper.

He takes charge of The New York Inquirer. He initially runs it with integrity; he formulates the Declaration of Principles (real quotes below).

He falls in love with a woman who wants to be an Opera singer but she can't sing. Inquirer reviewer (an old friend who had kept the original declaration of principles) writes a review which tells the brutal truth. Kane finishes it off and then sacks the guy (to show his integrity?). The guy then sends Kane the original Declaration of Principles which Kane tears up...

A veritable cornucopia of camera slippage - but this time in the right, artistic, way.

Of stunning acting from Orson Welles who starts off as a good rich-guy looking after the interests of the underdog. Oh, philanthropy of the sort one always wished one could partake in but had to work instead for that nasty editor who would scream at the top of her voice lest no copy be delivered. Or that pear-shaped editor who would spit at my exquisite tailoring before deriding my prose. BE GONE memories of the past. BUT WELCOME this movie. A truly stunning achievement.

Oh camera of a million dreams you opened a million possibilities with your audacity. I, for one, am a fan. It's a shame financial necessity forced this movie to be in black and white though, but those the breaks I'spose.

1935: "You can take my word for it there will be no war [in Europe]."

"You are right, I did lose $1mn last year, and I expect to lose another $1mn next year. At this rate of loss I will have to close the newspaper in 60 years."

Kane's Declaration of Principles: "I will provide the people of this city with a daily paper that will tell all the news honestly. I will also provide them with a fighting and tireless champion of their rights as citizens and as human beings."

Later: "People will think what I tell them to think."

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree...

One of those must see movies which really has the capacity to pull you in, to demand your full attention and when you have finished you find you have been truly entertained.

This movie was nominated for multiple Oscars but only got one - Best Screenplay. Orson Welles and Herman J Mankiewiez were apparently booed at the awards, the studio was offered a lot of money to not release the picture and to destroy the negative.

Is this the greatest movie of all time? Probably.