Citizen Kane

English

Etymology

After Citizen Kane (1941), a well-received and award-winning mystery drama film.

Noun

Citizen Kane (plural Citizen Kanes)

1. Any exceptionally good movie.
   • 2010, Justin Smith, Withnail and Us: Cult Films and Film Cults in British Cinema, I.B.Tauris, →ISBN, page 89:

     The Wicker Man, though it has been celebrated by Cinéfantastique as 'The Citizen Kane of horror movies', has only one genuine moment of terror in the final denouement.

   • 2016, Harlan Lebo, Citizen Kane: A Filmmaker's Journey, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 257:

     How many more Citizen Kanes might have been produced if those who ran Hollywood in its heyday had been willing to grant their artists even a portion of the control that Orson Welles had received?