A success as a publisher, a failure at life. Such is the sad legacy of fictional newspaper mogul Charles Foster Kane. Orson Wells" masterpiece allows us a candid overview of the life and conquests of an early twentieth century media giant, a character based substantially on William Randolph Hurst.

             Kane, the only child of simple Midwestern "peseant class" couple, finds himself thrust into a new world of fortune and destiny when a family holding turns profitable. Kane is adopted by savvy investor Walter Parks Thatcher (portrayed by George Coulouris), and given access to a first rate education. His fortune continues to grow. As he comes of age, he developes a passion for newspaper publishing, and purchases a newspaper of his own to satiate his infatuation with print. He brings an altogether new attitude to the paper and its staff, embracing a sensationalistic portrayal of the "news," where his predecessor had clung to convention. The revolutionary approach proves popular, and sales soon eclipse those of the formerly abomidable competition. As his sales grow, so does his influence, which in turn stimulates his ever more grandiose aspirations. He meets Emily Warton (Ruth Warrick), the niece of the current president, and is married after a short courtship. The marige is an unhappy one. Kane becomes increasingly self absorbed, riding high on public adulation which he hopes will carry him to the govornorship, and perhaps further. His high hopes, and his mairrage were finally dashed when his affair with aspiring singer Susan Alexander was exposed. He weds the singer, the mairrage fails, and Kane lives his remaining years a recluse in the giant mansion he built for Susan.

             The thread which holds together the otherwise hyper temporal flash forwards is a clever plot device which creates an astonishingly simple framework around which we are left to watch, and put together the pieces.