This 80-year-old review costs 'Citizen Kane' its perfect Rotten Tomatoes rating

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated Apr 27, 2021 10:33 PM ET

Kids now are taught that everything they put on the internet lives forever.

It turns out that Mae Tinee's Chicago Daily Tribune critical review of Citizen Kane from May 7, 1941, also has eternal life, and its recent reemergence has cost the 1941 drama its pristine 100 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes:

Rotten Tomatoes literally dug up an 80 year old negative review of Citizen Kane and now the movie no longer has a 100% fresh rating pic.twitter.com/0I8cxvuGdd
— Screaming Pectoriloquy (@Caulimovirus) April 26, 2021

Orson Welles directed and wrote the screenplay for the film, and he starred as the titular character. The late legendary filmmaker shared an Oscar (best writing/original screenplay) with Herman "Mank" Mankiewicz for Citizen Kane.

The plot followed a group of desperate reporters fighting to uncover the true meaning behind the final word spoken—"rosebud"—by Kane, an acclaimed newspaper tycoon, before his death.

Megan Armstrong

Megan Armstrong (@megankarmstrong) is a writer whose work has appeared in places such as Billboard, GQ, Esquire, Bleacher Report, Uproxx, and others. Megan has also produced various podcasts and hosted a daily radio show at Mizzou. She grew up obsessed with sports — impressing adults by memorizing NFL statistics as a kindergartner — and grew into an obsession with music

More must-reads: