It has become a clichéd statement at this point, but we're hard-pressed to find an American film that is better than Citizen Kane. Revolutionizing the use of deep-focus photography, atmospheric lighting, and a non-linear narrative, Orson Welles' 1941 masterpiece about the rise and fall of fictitious newspaper tycoon, Charles Foster Kane, earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay that same year.
Now, over 25 years after his death, Welles' Academy Award has been sold at an auction for $861,542, according to Deadline. Both the seller and the buyer remain anonymous, and for years the statue was thought to be lost until a cinematographer revealed that Welles had given it to him as payment for work. It was then involved in a contentious battle between Welles' daughter, Beatrice, and the Academy. After Beatrice won the right to own the statue, she sold it to a nonprofit, and eventually it wound up at this auction.
With how much controversy surrounded Citizen Kane at the time of its release, including numerous theaters refusing to even show the movie, this statue is one of the most important relics in Hollywood history. We just hope this award winds up with someone that respects the legacy and importance of it.
[via Deadline]
