faced, overdressed anarchist.” Even though he says
this humorously, he uses the tone of his voice, as
well as his words, to humiliate his subordinate.
The song about “good old Charlie Kane”—here
the excuse for more of Welles’s vocal theatrics—
later becomes his political campaign theme, so the
sound in this scene connects us with later scenes in
which we hear this musical theme again. By partic-
ipating in the singing and dancing, Kane continues
to call “complete attention” (his words) to himself.
Through both visual and aural imagery, Kane
remains in the center of the frame for most of the
scene, either directly on-screen himself or indirectly
reflected in the windows. His voice dominates all
the other sounds in this scene because it always
seems to be the loudest.
Leland and Bernstein are different from one
another in family background, education, level of
sophistication, and relationship to Kane, and their
conversation about journalistic ethics establishes
another major difference: these characters’ voices
are also quite different from Kane’s voice. Leland
has the soft patrician voice of a Virginia gentleman,
while Bernstein’s voice reflects his New York
immigrant-class upbringing. Leland gently ques-
tions Kane’s motives in hiring the Chronicle’s staff
and wonders why they can change their loyalties so
easily, but the pragmatic Bernstein bluntly
answers, “Sure, they’re just like anybody else....
They got work to do, they do it. Only they happen to
be the best in the business.” Their reading of these
lines embodies one of the movie’s major themes:
journalistic ethics. Even their singing sets them
apart. Bernstein sings as if he’s having a good time,
but Leland seems to sing only to show his good
manners. Their differences, including the differ-
ences in their voices, ultimately determine their
future relationship with Kane.1 23
Sound aids characterization in Citizen Kane
[1] Standing at opposite ends of the banquet table, Bernstein
(background) and Kane (foreground) banter back and forth
as if they were a comedy duo. [2] Welles dominates the
scene with sound. Putting his fingers between his lips, Kane
gets the attention of his guests and loudly calls for their
“complete attention.” [3] Bernstein (left) and Leland (right)
join in the singing of “There Is a Man,” but Leland, now
disillusioned with Kane, sings only to be polite.SOUND IN ORSON WELLES’S CITIZEN KANE 427