10 Greatest Opening Lines In Movie History

Orson Welles' Citizen Kane serves as a case study without peer in the art of the opening line. The fact that the film's opening salvo remains one of the most instantly recognizable offerings in cinematic history, when one considers that it hails from 1941 and consists of just one word, is nothing short of remarkable.

The word in question, "rosebud", is the deathbed utterance of Charles Foster Kane in the film's introduction. Audiences are treated to a stunning visage of his vast, snow-covered estate as the movie begins before a snow-globe slips from Kane's dying fingers. The unexplained nature of his final word serves as the centric element of Welles' masterpiece, oft acclaimed as the greatest film ever produced. The plot revolves around reporter Jerry Thompson as he delves into the deceased tycoon's storied and sordid past, striving to find the illusive meaning behind Kane's mysterious death rattle.

Never has there been a film where so much of the subsequent proceedings have been tied up in the first line of its dialogue. Notably beautiful in its simplicity, it is almost unfathomable to comprehend how much of the history of cinema is associated with that one word. As Citizen Kane unfolds in what is a staggering demonstration of the absolute pinnacle of mankind's film making capabilities, one cannot fail to pay credit to the immortal aura of the movie's introductory, and ultimately all encompassing, soundbite.