Rosebud

The young, rakish, looking fellow above is one Orson Welles, born this day 1915, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. I have debated with myself for the majority of this day on M. Welles' hero status. I arrived home to find his magus opus playing on TV. I am referring to "Citizen Kane," and I am slightly embarrassed to say that until today, I had never seen it before. It is rated, in many circles, as the greatest American film of all time. I watched, and hope, and pondered that statement, and I regret to say that I can not agree. It is a fantastic film, and Welles was a fucking genius as an actor, and as a director. He was miles ahead of his time, and if he had been born later, he might have had a career that went from one outstanding success to another. However, he was born when he was, and therefore his career had quite a number of unmitigated disasters. I have not seen a great number of his films, but the one that I absolutely love is "The Third Man," and it is for that role in that wonderful film that I have come off the fence and put him on the hero podium for today. His speech from the top of the Vienna Ferris wheel is priceless, and is delivered with perfection. Same can be said of the scene in which he talks about the cuckoo clock. It is for that role as the, quite frankly, rotten bastard Harry Lime, that I will forever remember him. I will overlook the later stages of his life when he ballooned up to over 400 pounds, and became as odd as a duck whacked upon the head. The making of "Citizen Kane" did gain him quite a few, very powerful enemies, and if that had not happened I believe he would be considered the greatest (rather than just one of the greatest) American director to ever put a story on film. However, he did remain true to his vision, and for that and all those fantastic films, Orson Welles (May 6th, 1915-October 10th, 1985, at the age of 70 of a heart attack), you are my (254th) hero of the day.