Review of The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) by Rahul R — 21 Mar 2009
Although it could be more, I think the sequences missing would really have made the film work better, espeacially in the last 20 min of the film.
Roberts Wise claimed that he made the movie better, and that it was bad to start with. But I can clearly see cuts the Wise made right on/before some great Mecury Theatre style expressions from Jo Cotten or Agnes Moorehead shows that he didn't understand what Welles was doing.
He may have wound up eventually directing a couple neat features like West Side Story and Star Trek: The Motion Picture but I really think he might have done a bad hack job editing this film.
The film is still fantastic though, and like almost every movie Welles did after Citizen Kane, it really only reveals its artistry after a couple of viewings. I suppose this makes the film inherently inaccessible to the typical cinema goer, which I think is a problem with almost all of Welles work in film.
This review of The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) was written by Rahul R on 21 Mar 2009.
The Magnificent Ambersons has generally received very positive reviews.
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