2. How Green Was My Valley
John Ford's How Green Was My Valley is by no means a poor film. Most, including myself value it very highly, however, Citizen Kane it is not. Pretty much everyone considers Orson Welles' iconic masterpiece amongst the finest films of all time, yet it couldn't even win Best Picture in 1942. Thankfully, it stood the test of time and is still widely watched this current day whilst How Green Was My Valley goes vastly overlooked even though it was preserved by the United States National Film Registry in 1990. It's a well known fact that Citizen Kane was partially based on newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. Hearst, back in the 40's was one of the most powerful and wealthy men in America and desperately tried to prevent the film being released in fear of his image being damaged. He obviously failed, but his influence meant very few theatres would book Welles' film which led to a mediocre box office taking and damage to the filmmaker's reputation. Hearst was determined to harm the film as much as possible and pressured Hollywood into avoiding Citizen Kane the Best Picture Oscar. This time, Hearst succeeded and How Green Was My Valley was awarded the prize so as to avoid angering Hearst further. But Welles had the last laugh, despite Hearst's desperate attempts to force the film into extinction, it is one of the most renowned films of all time and Hearst's legacy is mostly shaped by Welles' dark portrayal in the film.