The most famous film in the history of motion pictures almost didn't happen. Orson Welles was a hot property after that infamous War Of The Worlds radio stunt, and despite every project going being thrown at him, he opted to make his own film. Citizen Kane proved to be one of the finest-crafted movies ever, full of iconic imagery. By accident. Welles struggled to put the film together, with soaring production budgets and meddling executives. Worst of all was the crew Welles was working with who, among other things, accidentally broke the snowglobe they originally intended to use as the representation of Kane's lost innocence; in the finished film, his sled Rosebud takes that role. Refusing to have the snowglobe replaced (it was a present from his mother), Welles demanded a different symbol be found. One of the production assistants happened upon the sled in a dumpster down a New York alley, name engraved and all. Citizen Kane seems like a literary masterpiece that had everything thought out beforehand. In fact, its most famous and enduring image and mystery is one that was literally found in the trash. How's that for high art?
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
