Orson Welles was once the king of the film world, or so it would seem.
With the release of Citizen Kane, Welles was anointed a wunderkind, the future of Hollywood filmmaking itself, at just 26 years old.
The film got a warm critical reception but a miserable box office return, and as a consolation prize, it got nine Oscar nominations for its trouble.
It’s good when great works of art actually get recognized by the Academy.
That is, unless everybody in the room is booing each of your nominations out loud at the actual Oscars ceremony, then that feels like cruel hazing.
That is also if you take Orson Welles at his word, which is a dubious gesture, to be sure.
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