“The legend of Orson Welles holds that he knew little or nothing about the cinema before making Citizen Kane in 1941. And Welles nurtured this legend, attributing its innovations ‘to my ignorance. If this word seems inadequate to you, replace it with innocence.’ But his little-known first film, The Hearts of Age, made seven years earlier, gives the lie to the legend. While indisputably technically crude and a bit sophomoric, The Hearts of Age reveals both a keen eye for composition and montage, and substantial familiarity with film art.”
