Review of The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) by Mike T — 07 Sep 2010

The Magnificent Ambersons, Orson Welles' followup to his stunning masterpiece of a debut Citizen Kane, is a tale of a prominent wealthy Indianapolis family's attempt to adapt to the changing times at the close of a decadent age. It is a masterpiece that would have surpassed even the greatness of his first film if it wasn't for the studio's decision to chop up many of the scenes and alter the ending without Welles' consent. Despite what the studio did to make this movie somewhat flawed it IS a masterpiece never the less. It unfortunately didn't reach the level of Citizen Kane but that wasn't the fault of Welles or the cast and crew but the idiots at the head of the studio.

Welles' direction as usual is mesmerizing. All of the cast are very good especially Agnes Moorehead who gives one of the most under-appreciated performances to get an Oscar nomination. Joseph Cotten is also quite good and so is Anne Baxter who plays his daughter. Tim Holt, who was very limited in his acting skills, is still pretty good as the bratty George Amberson Minafer. Just about every aspect is pretty much flawless. It has fantastic art direction/set design that in a way is a character itself. The cinematography is fantastic. Welles had a knack to come up with great visuals and amazing camera angles. Robert Wise's editing is also quite good, though not as great as Citizen Kane. Also Orson Welles narration is brilliant and so is his choice to show the cast and representations of the crew at the end with his narration and no text going along during what is the ending credits. Never seen a better piece of ending credits.

However, even with all the greatness that is The Magnificent Ambersons, the current version is but a pale shadow of Welles' original concept. Out of time and over budget, the movie previewed badly and was eventually sliced down to an abrupt 88 minutes. Even though the film therefore must be regarded as a marred masterpiece, the remaining two-thirds of Welles' original concept is still a thrilling cinematic experience, especially whenever Agnes Moorehead is on the screen. Hopefully one day the lost footage will miraculously reemerge and we will finally see what Welles had originally envisioned this great film to be.

By the way I highly recommend you watch it at least twice. The first time I watched it I thought it was good but not that great. But with a second viewing I found it to be a fascinating film.

Also, to me the movie ends when George is kneeling next to his mother's bed when Orson Welles' narration says this, "Something had happened. A thing which, years ago, had been the eagerest hope of many, many good citizens of the town, and now it had come at last; George Amberson Minafer had got his comeuppance. He got it three times filled, and running over. But those who had so longed for it were not there to see it, and they never knew it. Those who were still living had forgotten all about it and all about him," not where the movie ends with Cotten and Moorehead's characters coming out of George's hospital room, that was the REAL ending to me, him getting his "comeuppance". But as stated earlier, the film is a masterpiece even with some of the scenes getting chopped and the bad "happy" ending.

10/10.