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24 Frames

YouTube’s Rosebud moment

By Steven Zeitchikwriter 
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The last time you watched a dancing-cat video on YouTube, you probably purged the guilt by thinking, ‘Well, it’s not supposed to be ‘Citizen Kane.’

But what if it was “Citizen Kane’?

YouTube is making the 1941 Orson Welles classic available for rental online, in what it says is the first time the movie can be viewed on-demand on the Interwebs. You can watch the first 10 minutes below; full rental costs $3 for a 24-hour period. (For Welles completists, there’s also a Blu-ray boxed set out.)

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The landmark work you’ll be watching on YouTube is actually a newly remastered version; studio Warner Bros. recently completed that process in honor of the film’s 70th anniversary. So the next time you think about how to enjoy one of cinema’s defining masterpieces, let your mind immediately go to the 12-inch monitor on which you just updated your Facebook status.

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--Steven Zeitchik

twitter.com/ZeitchikLAT

24 Frames
Steven Zeitchik

Steven Zeitchik is a former Los Angeles Times staff writer who covered film and the larger world of Hollywood for the paper from 2009 to 2017, exploring the personalities, issues, content and consequences of both the creative and business (and, increasingly, digital) aspects of our screen entertainment. He previously covered entertainment beats at Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, has contributed arts and culture pieces to the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the New York Times and has done journalistic tours of duty in Jerusalem and Berlin. While at The Times he has also reported stories in cities ranging from Cairo to Krakow, though Hollywood can still seem like the most exotic destination of all.

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