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Information

Year
1941
Runtime
119 min.
Director
Orson Welles
Genres
Drama, Mystery
Rating *
8.3
Votes *
306,239
Checks
50,765
Favs
4,813
Dislikes
432
Favs/checks
9.5% (1:11)
Favs/dislikes
11:1
* View IMDb information

Top comments

  1. Big A2's avatar

    Big A2

    The only reason people are calling this over-rated is because it's been given a label that is impossible to live up to, built on the assumption that any movie could possibly be the be-all, end-all, greatest of all time. Yes, it’s good, very good. 5/5, 10/10, whatever, but is it the greatest film of all time? No, because nothing ever will be. 12 years 8 months ago
  2. Melvelet's avatar

    Melvelet

    "Probably the most unfortunate thing that ever happened to `Citizen Kane' was that it found itself atop the AFI top film list. Now, no one can simply enjoy the film. Everyone feels compelled to scrutinize it and make a decision about its greatness." 11 years 3 months ago
  3. DisneyStitch's avatar

    DisneyStitch

    The movie is years, perhaps decades ahead of its time. Watch a bunch of movies from the same time period and compare, it's like comparing a diamond to sea shells. Pay close attention to the lighting and especially the camerawork. It's all things we have come to know and love now but this is 70+ years ago. I agree with another commenter that no movie could ever really be the "greatest" of all time, cinema is far too varied for that. The vast majority of people who call it "overrated" most likely saw this movie as #1 in a few lists and then watched it as one of their first old movies they've ever watched, (once again, it's 76 years old for Pete's sake.) If you are strictly a contemporary movie watcher it's understandable it won't be your thing. A taste for classic movies is a quality obtained over time and study of classic films.

    I can't claim it to absolutely positively be the best of all time. It is, however, one of the most meticulously and well crafted movies ever made, without question. Orson Welles strikes an imposing character who is impossible to take your eyes off of. The movie begins brilliantly and over the course of the film we find that, like newspaper stories, reality is far different and infinitely more complicated than the headlines...
    7 years 8 months ago
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  1. Bodvar and Karstadtdetektiv checked this movie 4 days 15 hours ago
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In 39 official lists

  1. This movie ranks #1 in Cahiers du Cinéma's 100 Films for an Ideal Cinematheque
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    Cahiers du Cinéma's 100 …

    1
  2. This movie ranks #1 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies
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    AFI's 100 Years...100 Mo…

    1
  3. This movie ranks #1 in TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films
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    TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest F…

    1
  4. This movie ranks #3 in Sight & Sound's The Greatest Films of All Time
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    Sight & Sound's The Grea…

    3
  5. This movie ranks #3 in Rotten Tomatoes's Top 100 Movies of All Time
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    Rotten Tomatoes's Top 10…

    3
  6. This movie ranks #4 in IMDb's 1940s Top 50
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    IMDb's 1940s Top 50

    4
  7. This movie ranks #4 in ASC's 100 Milestone Films in Cinematography of the 20th Century
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    ASC's 100 Milestone Film…

    4
  8. This movie ranks #7 in Stanley Kubrick, Cinephile
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    Stanley Kubrick, Cinephi…

    7
  9. This movie ranks #8 in Halliwell's Top 1000: The Ultimate Movie Countdown
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    Halliwell's Top 1000: Th…

    8
  10. This movie ranks #9 in Time Out's 1000 Films to Change Your Life
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    Time Out's 1000 Films to…

    9
  11. This movie ranks #10 in National Board of Review Award - Best Film
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    10
  12. This movie ranks #11 in Tim Dirks's 100+ Most Controversial Films of All-Time
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    Tim Dirks's 100+ Most Co…

    11
  13. This movie ranks #12 in Library of Congress's National Film Registry
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    Library of Congress's Na…

    12
  14. This movie ranks #12 in iCheckMovies's 1940s Top 100
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    iCheckMovies's 1940s Top…

    12
  15. This movie ranks #17 in Taschen's 100 All-Time Favorite Movies
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    Taschen's 100 All-Time F…

    17
  16. This movie ranks #19 in IMDb's Mystery Top 50
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    IMDb's Mystery Top 50

    19
  17. This movie ranks #28 in Empire's The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time
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    28
  18. This movie ranks #42 in Leonard Maltin's 100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century
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    Leonard Maltin's 100 Mus…

    42
  19. This movie ranks #44 in Roger Ebert's Great Movies
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    44
  20. This movie ranks #46 in MovieSense 101
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    MovieSense 101

    46
  21. This movie ranks #59 in FilmTotaal Forum's Top 100
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    FilmTotaal Forum's Top 1…

    59
  22. This movie ranks #86 in François Truffaut's The Films in My Life
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    François Truffaut's The …

    86
  23. This movie ranks #87 in A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese
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    A Personal Journey with …

    87
  24. This movie ranks #90 in Reddit Top 250
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    Reddit Top 250

    90
  25. This movie ranks #100 in Harvard's Suggested Film Viewing: Narrative Films
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    100
  26. This movie ranks #103 in Emma Beare's 501 Must-See Movies
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  27. This movie ranks #104 in IMDb's Top 250
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    IMDb's Top 250

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  28. This movie ranks #115 in Academy Award - Best Picture Nominees
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  29. This movie ranks #140 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
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  30. This movie ranks #141 in Mark Cousins's The Story of Film: An Odyssey
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    141
  31. This movie ranks #145 in BFI's 360 Classic Feature Films Project
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    145
  32. This movie ranks #153 in The New York Times's Book of Movies
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    The New York Times's Boo…

    153
  33. This movie ranks #184 in The Guardian's 1000 Films to See Before You Die
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    184
  34. This movie ranks #206 in Jonathan Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema
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    206
  35. This movie ranks #248 in David Thomson's Have You Seen?
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    248
  36. This movie ranks #537 in Anthology Film Archives's Essential Cinema
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    537
  37. This movie ranks #643 in TSPDT's 1,000 Noir Films
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    TSPDT's 1,000 Noir Films

    643
  38. This movie ranks #932 in UNESCO's Memory of the World
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    UNESCO's Memory of the W…

    932
  39. This movie ranks #1345 in The Criterion Collection
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    The Criterion Collection

    1345
View all lists this movie is in