The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Director:

Orson Welles

Writers:

Booth Tarkington (based on the novel by)
Orson Welles (script writer)

Release Date:

10 July 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

From the Man who Made "The Best Picture of 1941"

Plot:

The spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.

Plot Keywords:

Brat | Widower | Spoiled Brat | Aunt | Automobile

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 2 wins

Cast

Joseph Cotten	...	Eugene
Dolores Costello	...	Isabel
Anne Baxter	...	Lucy
Tim Holt	...	George
Agnes Moorehead	...	Fanny
Ray Collins	...	Jack
Erskine Sanford	...	Roger Bronson
Richard Bennett	...	Major Amberson
Orson Welles	...	Narrator (voice)

Runtime:

88 min | 148 min (original cut) | 131 min (preview)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:TV-PG | South Korea:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #7800) | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Germany:12 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, California, USA

Company:

Mercury Productions

Trivia:

Ray Collins was the only member of the cast to have featured in Welles' radio version in 1939.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Towards end of long tracking shot with George and Lucy in horse-drawn carriage, portion of rear end of camera car and some sort of filmmaking equipment briefly enters left side of frame.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: The magnificence of the Ambersons began in 1873. Their splendor lasted throughout all the years that saw their midland town spread and darken into a city. In that town, in those days, all the women who wore silk or velvet knew all the other women who wore silk or velvet...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Suburban Girl (2007)

Soundtrack:

String Quintet In E, Op. 13 No. 5: Minuet

What might have been...

The fate of this almost magnificent film must rank as one of the greatest tragedies in the history of the cinema. viewing it in its present state is like looking at the Venus Di Milo, or at a beautiful Greek vase that has been shattered. One can only admire the fragments...and what gorgeous fragments they are: Major Ambersons heartbreaking meditation by the fireplace,the quarrel between Eugene Morgan and Georgie about the Automobile, Isabel's death, Agnes Moorehead's magnificent performance, the splendor of the Amberson mansion, and the ballroom scene. Perhaps someday, some powerful computer might be able to reconstruct the missing footage from stills and from Welles script...perhaps. Until that almost impossible moment, one can only envy the handful of men and women who were able to see it whole, and to understand what they were seeing.