Likely, the film's impact on the American film industry would have been more immediate had Orson Welles, then an irreverent young upstart in his mid-twenties (Giannetti) not been extremely unpopular in Hollywood at the time. When Citizen Kane was first released, the film received rave reviews. According to Giannetti, the New York Times called it: "One of the greatest (if not the greatest) films in history" (p. 478). As Giannetti also notes, however: .

             It received nine Academy Award nominations, but at the ceremonies, Welles.

             was booed whenever his name was mentioned. Significantly, the only Oscar .

             that the movie won was for its screenplay. Pauline Kael suggested that this.

             was intended as a gesture of support for [Herman] Mankiewicz, the Hollywood.

             regular, and as a rebuke to Welles, the upstart, who lost out on the acting,.

             directing, and best picture awards. (pp. 479-480).

             Surprisingly, especially given its classic film status today, Citizen Kane did not do well at the American box office in 1941 (Mast & Kawin; Giannetti), perhaps because it was so much different from other films Americans were used to at the time. However, the impact of Citizen Kane, and Welles as a director, on European film, and French film in particular, was immediate, profound, and long-lasting, and eventually spread to the United States. It seems that, likely because of his Hollywood unpopularity, Welles was perhaps not the best messenger, in his own country, of his cinematically brilliant ideas. However, according to Giannetti:.

             Welles was always a favorite with critics, especially in France. Welles was an .

             idolized source of inspiration for the critics at Cashiers du cinema, who spear-.

             headed the New Wave [emphasis not added]. .

             Within France, Welles's work on Citizen Kane exemplified the auteur (director as author) theory in operation. American filmmakers like John Ford, Howard Hawks, Billy Wilder and others reaped the benefits of being called "auteurs" in the style that Welles had established himself, although this probably would not have happened, at least not when it did, except for Welles and Citizen Kane.