It`s odd how discussion of Kane brings out the bashing urge in some people on these threads. With the exception of The Matrix, I like every film mentioned in this thread--I had The Third Man on last night, actually.
The story that `Rosebud` refers to the unmentionables of Marion Davies is one that`s never convinced me, though of course I`ve heard it. In the movie it is a reference to the sled, of course, and the more private reference, if true, really doesn`t matter. While Kane doesn`t have as many of the traditional `likable` characters of Hollywood movies, it has compelling, interesting ones. As I age, the Kane characters are more pertinent to real life than 99% of movie characters.
A TV writer friend of mine has been going on in her blog lately about this compulsion people seem to have to go on the internet and rant about how much they hate some movie or TV show (or anything, really) and then getting even angrier when someone simply says "Well, I liked it.