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
George: College.
Lucy: College.
George: Oh, lots of useless guff.
Lucy: Why don't you study some useful guff?
George: What do you mean, useful?
Lucy: Something you'd use later in your business or profession.
George: I don't intend to go into any business or profession.
Lucy: No?
George: No.
Lucy: Why not?
George: Well, just look at them. That's a fine career for a man, isn't it? Lawyers, bankers, politicians. What do they ever get out of life, I'd like to know. What do they know about real things? What do they ever get?
Lucy: What do you want to be?
George: [fatuously] A yachtsman!
[Lucy reacts with astonishment]
George: I said, automobiles are a useless nuisance. Never amount to anything but a nuisance. They had no business to be invented.
Roger Bronson: [to George] The law's a jealous mistress and a stern mistress.
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Facts about
To persuade RKO head George Schaefer to approve this film as a follow-up to Citizen Kane, Welles played him the Mercury Theater of the Air radio version. It is claimed that Schaefer fell asleep during this. Nevertheless, he greenlighted the film for $1 million, an unheard-of move for a studio whose policy was not to make films that cost more than $750,000.
The earliest Morgan Automobile shown in the film is actually an 1892 Philion Road Carriage, one of the oldest existing American built cars and the only one produced. It can still be seen at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada.
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