The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) | |
| Director(s) | Orson Welles, Fred Fleck (uncredited), Robert Wise (uncredited) |
| Producer(s) | Orson Welles, Jack Moss (associate uncredited), George Schaefer (executive uncredited) |
| Top Genres | Drama, Film Adaptation, Romance |
| Top Topics | Book-Based, Mother/Son, Romance (Drama) |
Featured Cast:
The Magnificent Ambersons Overview:
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) was a Drama - Romance Film directed by Orson Welles and Fred Fleck and produced by Orson Welles, Jack Moss and George Schaefer.
The film was based on the novel of the same name written by Booth Tarkington published in 1918.
SYNOPSIS
Both one of the supreme works of the American cinema and one of its most notorious "ruined" films, Welles's follow-up to Citizen Kane (1941) keeps him behind the camera, though his presence is felt in every frame. Tarkington's novel about a turn-of-the-century family's conflicts is transformed by Welles into a eulogy for a slower, simpler, and decent past, and this is a more personal film for Welles than his stunning debut the year before. Now missing close to 30 minutes and containing a saccharine "happy ending" shot by another crew while Welles was filming in South America, this version of Ambersons is the only one that survives. The Welles regulars are all here (Cotten, Moorehead, Collins), aided by Cortez's astounding cinematography and Herrmann's fitting score. The laserdisc contains interviews and original storyboards.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.The Magnificent Ambersons was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1991.
Academy Awards 1942 --- Ceremony Number 15 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Supporting Actress | Agnes Moorehead | Nominated |
| Best Art Direction | Art Direction: Albert S. D'Agostino; Interior Decoration: Darrell Silvera, Al Fields | Nominated |
| Best Cinematography | Stanley Cortez | Nominated |
| Best Picture | Mercury | Nominated |
BlogHub Articles:
1001 Classic Movies: The Magnificent Ambersons
By Amanda Garrett on May 26, 2017 From Old Hollywood FilmsThe Magnificent Ambersons (1942) is one of the 1001 classic movies you should see. This Orson-Welles directed drama about a turn-of-the-century Indiana family stars from left: Richard Bennett; Joseph Cotten; Dolores Costello; Don Dillaway; Agnes Moorehead, and Ray Collins. This series will now ap... Read full article
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
By Carol Martinheira on May 2, 2017 From The Old Hollywood GardenThe Magnificent Ambersons (1942) On May 2, 2017May 2, 2017 By CarolIn Uncategorized The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) was one of the many, many movies I saw in the glorious summer of 2007. That was the year I fell in love with classic movies, and that summer I watched a... Read full article
The Magnificent Ambersons
By Amanda Garrett on Dec 5, 2016 From Old Hollywood FilmsToday, I'm reviewing director Orson Welles drama The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), starring (from left) Richard Bennett; Joseph Cotten; Dolores Costello; Don Dillaway; Agnes Moorehead, and Ray Collins. This article is part of The Agnes Moorehead Blogathon hosted by In the Good Old Days of Classic... Read full article
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942, Orson Welles)
By Andrew Wickliffe on May 9, 2016 From The Stop ButtonUnfortunately, I feel the need to address some of the behind the scenes aspects of The Magnificent Ambersons. Not because I plan on talking about them, but because director Welles’s career is filled with a lack of control. There are always questions–what did editor Robert Wise do on his ... Read full article
The Magnificent Ambersons
By Michael on Jul 23, 2014 From Le Mot du CinephiliaqueThe Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles, 1942) The spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved. The Magnificent Ambersons plays like a nice classical music from a classic composer, it is a story about pride, richness, family... Read full article
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Quotes from
Narrator: George Amberson-Minafer walked home through the strange streets of what seemed to be a strange city. For the town was growing... changing... it was heaving up in the middle, incredibly; it was spreading incredibly. And as it heaved and spread, it befouled itself and darkened its skies. This was the last walk home he was ever to take up National Avenue, to Amberson Edition, and the big old house at the foot of Amberson Boulevard. Tommorow they were to move out. Tomorrow everything would be gone.
Roger Bronson: [to George] The law's a jealous mistress and a stern mistress.
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Facts about
Several cast members in studio records/casting call lists apparently were eliminated during the final editing process. These were (with their character names): Jesse Graves (Servant), Lillian Nicholson (Landlady), Robert Pittard (Charles Johnson) and Sam Rice (Attendee at Funeral). Don Dillaway (Wilbur Minafer) is not mentioned in Welles' oral credits, but he appears in three scenes in the opening minutes of the film: As Isabel and Wilbur emerge from a store, Isabel spurns suitor Eugene's attentions; Wilbur reads aloud a letter complaining about son George's misbehavior as George, Major Amberson, and Isabel listen; and Wilbur has lines in several shots of the ball scene.
The scenes with the automobile ride with the snow were filmed in an abandoned icehouse instead of the RKO stage reserved for such shots. However, it took much longer than anticipated because the equipment kept having problems that were brought on by the cold (film jamming because of frozen condensation, lenses fogging up, etc.). Because of this everyone involved, except for Orson Welles, contracted a terrible head cold.
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