Number Seven: Charlie Kane's awesomely talented wife

Matt and I first watched Citizen Kane a few years ago for the sole purpose of being able to argue against it! Ha ha! It was so universally regarded as the best film of all time that we were just sure it would be a totally clichè "good film" movie that was actually totally dumb. Something trying to be artsy or something, and really just stupid. So we started watching it in a totally critical mood, ready to TAKE IT DOWN!! Yeah! Instead, about ten minutes into it we looked at each other, all surprised, and said "this is actually REALLY GOOD!" By the end, we were different people. Hehe. Not sure how I lived life before Citizen Kane.... :) (Ha ha!)

The movie doesn't have a ton of stand-out scenes (it all goes together so perfectly... :)), but this one is pretty great. Charlie Kane, with his totally complex superiority (or adoration...) issues, builds his wife an opera house when her singing can't get her into any other venues. The biggest opera house in the country, of course. She doesn't even want it (she's content with being mediocre), but he is going to get her recognized. This scene is her painful performance. (I've sat through a few operas where I wanted to be tearing my program up like Joseph Cotton is! Hehe.) 

The moment where he stops clapping as the lights come up is my favorite moment of the whole movie! (Which is where the scene actually ends even though this clip will keep going... I don't feel like doing any work to post just the first few minutes. :)) Great acting. 

(The other scene we initially thought of as the best is when Kane is old and his wife finally leaves him, and he tries to manipulate her into staying like he manipulated everything else but she just walks away. When he finally loses it and destroys the room, totally in character as an old man Charlie Kane, then walks out after picking up the snow globe.... Ahhhh.... So great. :))