What 1941 film is frequently cited as the greatest movie ever made?

The 1941 film frequently cited as the greatest movie ever made is Citizen Kane.

Directed, produced and led by Orson Welles, the film follows the rise and decline of Charles Foster Kane, a powerful newspaper publisher. Kane is a fictional composite influenced by figures including William Randolph Hearst, Joseph Pulitzer, Samuel Insull and Harold McCormick. The mystery surrounding his final word, “Rosebud,” gives the story its investigative structure.

Citizen Kane was unusually ambitious for a first feature. Welles received exceptional creative control from RKO, while cinematographer Gregg Toland helped create its celebrated deep-focus imagery. The film also uses nonlinear storytelling, unusual camera angles, layered sound and expressive editing to reconstruct Kane’s life through conflicting memories.

Its reputation grew after an initially disappointing commercial release. It topped the British Film Institute’s Sight & Sound critics’ poll from 1962 through 2002 and led the American Film Institute’s 1998 list. The claim remains a critical judgment rather than an objective award, but Citizen Kane is the canonical answer to this phrasing.