Review of The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) by Noel B — 24 Jan 2008

As much as I love and admire Chimes at Midnight my favourite Welles film is still The Magnificent Ambersons. This emasculated masterpiece (RKO cut it by about 40 minutes and tacked on a ridiculous ending shot by Robert Wise) is impressive even in its butchered state. Along with Chimes at Midnight itâ??s the most emotionally involving of his films. I admire Kane and Touch of Evil but I love Ambersons. Impeccably reconstructing its turn of the century period, the film immediately adopts an affectionately ambivalent tone as it catalogues changing fashions and the fortunes of the proud Amberson family (through whose deterioration some major turning points in the social and economic fabric of twentieth century American life are observed). The Amberson mansion is full of self-important snobs like Tim Holt (surprisingly carrying the pivotal role of the spoiled scion) but Welles imbues their carryings on with compassion as the quality of their lives flails under the onslaughts of the brave new industrial times, epitomised by Eugene Morganâ??s (Joseph Cottenâ??s) motor car. Welles is partly nostalgic for the strengths of the pre-industrial era (the strong sense of community and more leisurely pace of life) while gently exposing its shortcomings.

As a piece of cinema, it carries consistently superb performances from its costumed cast who are shot in long, aesthetically beautiful takes that make the most out of the awesome (in size and grandeur) central set (the mansion itself); its visual economy takes your breath away-the death of George Minafer, for example, is conveyed in a single terse, brief image and the whole town is exposed in one long tracking shot as lovers Tim Holt and Anne Baxter break up their relationship. The entire cast wrings the emotions dry. Agnes Mooreheadâ??s shrillness is countered by scenes exposing her loneliness and vulnerability as she gets swallowed up in the shadows of the intimidating domestic set; Joseph Cottenâ??s gentle Eugene is never allowed to consummate his romantic longings for the exquisitely frail Isobel Amberson (Dolores Costello) through the interventions of mother-fixated George (Tim Holt); and Holt himself, in the filmâ??s most unsympathetic role, finally receives his â??comeuppanceâ?? in unbearably bleak surroundings, his exalted status having been reduced to an historical footnote .