When RKO became one of the first studios to sell its library of films to television, viewers were able to evaluate Orson Welless debut feature without the furore that marked its initial release. Even before it reached cinemas, the story of a William Randolph Hearst-like publisher attracted the ire of Hearst himself, who used his influence to smear Welles, calling him a Communist and attempting to suppress his picture. Depending upon who you believe, Radio City Music Halls managers refused to host the premiere while several other theatre owners, fearing a lawsuit from the publisher, declined to screen the film, prompting Welles to threaten RKO with legal proceedings of his own. Promoted as a love story, the picture played to mostly empty houses, losing the studio hundreds of thousands of dollars. Citizen Kanes status as The Greatest Film Ever Made grew after it gained popularity on television, where it caught the attention of critic Andrew Sarris, who called it the work that influenced the cinema more profoundly than any American film since Birth Of A Nation. Propelled by similarly laudatory reviews from Pauline Kael and David Thomson, Kane topped Sight & Sounds top ten list for the first time in 1962, a position it held until 2012 when it was dethroned by Hitchcocks Vertigo. Which other classic movies weren't treated as such until they got on TV? Share any missed down in the comments.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
