This occurs at the beginning of the movie during Kane's death. He is alone in the room when he whispers his last word "rosebud" and drops the snow globe. Of you watch closely, you'll notice that the nurse enters AFTER he says it. How could anyone know that his last word was "rosebud" if no on was in the room to hear him say it?!
Near the end of the film (1:51:30 on the DVD edition) Kane's butler, Raymond, implies that he was with or near Kane when he says "Rosebud". He says the following, "I heard him say it the other night too [the night he died], he just said, uh, RRRosebud, then he dlopped the glass ball and it bloke on the floor. He didn't say anything after that, then I knew he was dead." Therefore we can assume that someone was in fact within earshot of Kane when he mutters his last words.
I would agree that this slip up was not well thought out. However it is the only slip up posted regarding the movie Citizen Kane. But if you you look close this slip up note has a slip up of its own so we are not left with nothing to nit pick. If you enjoy knit picking I would invite you to read over this note and see how many gramatic and spelling errors you can find. If you want a Citizen Kane error to knit pick, please study the scene where the camera goes from the young Kane playing in the snow backwards through the window and finally stoping behind a table where Kanes mother, sits down. Look close and you will see a top hat on the table giggle a little bit. No they did not hit the table, the hats movement was caused by the table (which had been cut in half) coming together after the camera rolled through it. A ingenious trick but not accoplished with out a price. Also when they all go outside you cant see there breath even though it is supposed to be cold. This may seem trivial to us but Orson Wells was very upset with this and filmed a later scene in a ice house to make up for it.
Donkey, about the jiggling table, I think it can be overlooked as a slipup because you can see Kane's mother's hand on the table which may have shaken it, or she could have bumped into the table leg with her own leg as she was taking a seat. I am not arguing with your facts about how the scene was shot, but I think that the effect was actually positive. Then again, you did say you were nit picking :)
Kane died alone.The nurse couldn't have heard as she entered the room in response to the snowball breaking.The butler is lying.He asked the reporter "How much is it worth to you?Thousand dollars?"Kane died alone.Who was there to hear his last word?You were.
This a very dumb slip up. Whoever posted this was not paying attention to the movie. Near the end of the movie, they are interviwing one of Kane's servant, and he says that he was in the room when Kane uttered his last word: "Rosebud."
Who was in the room to turn out the light prior to Kane's death? Who heard him say "Rosebud"? These aren't slip ups. Why does that light go out? Why does he have a shot open with that "screeching bird"? That almost always catches me off guard. What about the scene in the tent near the end of the film? He and his wife are arguing. He slaps her. She says, "Don't say you're sorry". He says, "I'm not". She falls silent, yet in the background we hear the scream of a women. Welles had his reasons for all of these.Which brings us back to who was in the room when he died. Only you, the viewer, are in the room with him. Without you there is no story. Did you notice how Welles shot the interviewer? Mostly from the rear, and darkly lit. It as if he didn't exist. It's as if you are the one asking the questions.
How fast of a runner do you guys think the nurse is, for her to be far enough away from the door not to be able to hear him, and still get in the room that quickly?
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