The ending is the ending of the book, they just had to wrap it up really quickly. Welles apparently shot an ending with similar dialogue but a sadder tone. But Booth Tarkington is to blame for the happy ending.
I know it's unlikely, but I wholeheartedly pray that somewhere in Brazil lies the original missing footage of Ambersons, the way it was meant to be seen, as envisioned by Orson himself.
Wow I read the book and the film's ending really deviates from that but truth be told the book's ending was kind of odd too but would have been better than this shortcut version soap opera stuff. I guess with WW2 going on they had to tone it down a bit for the audience.
The Doom is so friggin thick, like oil laying at the bottom of this movie. You can stir the movie, try to clean it up, water it down... but The Doom Cannot Be Killed.
PT Anderson once said he put the title to Boogie Nights as a physical neon sign in the movie just so the title could not be changed against his will. Welles' safeguard was much more complex:
The Sheer Density of Welles' style, the pervasive Wellesian Atmosphere, cannot be denied. It Comes Through Still, and the film lives on.
manage to be awe inspiring, cinematically breathtaking, and emotionally stirring. I have now added another favorutie film to my list and it is Orson Welle's The Magnificent Ambersons, and the irony of it is, it's a chopped up cut of it. One can only imagine how exhilerating his final cut would have been. The sheer tragedies of cinema.
Do you know what the funny thing is? Before reading the comments posted on here, i had absolutely NO CLUE that the cut that i had just finished watching (this one right here obviously) was buthchered. That's right, i just finished watching it being completely blown away by its utter brilliance and magnificence and i find out that this was a rough, butchered cut of the movie. This goes to show the genius of Orson welles, even when his films are torn up by greedy studio executives, his films still
Anybody notice the in-joke at 5:18? The newspaper that Eugene is reading is the Indianapolis Enquirer, and the first column on the page is a dramatic review by Jed Leland.
Welles was a genius, both as director and actor. And I have always much admired Joseph Cotten who could do anything on the screen. Just comparing this performance to what he did, for example, in The Shadow of a Doubt shows well how versatile his talent was.
Audience pandering never helps art, but even a butchered masterpiece still contains many glimpses of genius. Thanks for posting. Agnes Moorehead was a force of nature. I'd love to have seen her in more meaty and dramatic roles in her golden years, not that Endora wasn't a lot of fun.
The butchering weakens the film for me. :( I wish i could see it as intended. Ending stinks. "Georgie" did not deserve ANY girl; without SEEING him ask forgiveness, i can't buy it. I found the middle part choppy. BUT It DOES endure; we know Welles had a higher ideal for it. Cinematically it is awe inspiring. I love Agnes M. in her scenes. I'm a Joseph Cotton fan too. Too ahead of his time, O.W. = his curse. Today, the outcome would be better for him. Thanks for posting this. God Bless All.
@ZANTEDESH I agree 100% except in one regard: if Welles had tried to make this film, or Citizen Kane, for that matter, today, it would not have had the chance to be butchered because it never would have gotten bankrolled.
Magnificent Ambersons = Magnificent Film. It is a tragedy that so much was edited from the movie, and that cheesy ending was tacked on to give it a happy, more palatable ending for movie goers who just couldnt understand the masterpiece they were witnessing at the time. The criminals at RKO butchered probably the greatest film ever made, yet, even in its ruined state it still endures as one of the greatest films ever made.
The ending is the ending of the book, they just had to wrap it up really quickly. Welles apparently shot an ending with similar dialogue but a sadder tone. But Booth Tarkington is to blame for the happy ending.
thesafekind 1 month ago
I know it's unlikely, but I wholeheartedly pray that somewhere in Brazil lies the original missing footage of Ambersons, the way it was meant to be seen, as envisioned by Orson himself.
osharemind 10 months ago
Wow I read the book and the film's ending really deviates from that but truth be told the book's ending was kind of odd too but would have been better than this shortcut version soap opera stuff. I guess with WW2 going on they had to tone it down a bit for the audience.
krushnoi 1 year ago
"My name is Orson Welles."
Applemask 1 year ago
The Doom is so friggin thick, like oil laying at the bottom of this movie. You can stir the movie, try to clean it up, water it down... but The Doom Cannot Be Killed.
PT Anderson once said he put the title to Boogie Nights as a physical neon sign in the movie just so the title could not be changed against his will. Welles' safeguard was much more complex:
The Sheer Density of Welles' style, the pervasive Wellesian Atmosphere, cannot be denied. It Comes Through Still, and the film lives on.
BeekPerson 1 year ago
Comment removed
BeekPerson 1 year ago
"This is a Mercury Production"...just excellent!
ectorlove 1 year ago
manage to be awe inspiring, cinematically breathtaking, and emotionally stirring. I have now added another favorutie film to my list and it is Orson Welle's The Magnificent Ambersons, and the irony of it is, it's a chopped up cut of it. One can only imagine how exhilerating his final cut would have been. The sheer tragedies of cinema.
donlongluca 1 year ago 3
Do you know what the funny thing is? Before reading the comments posted on here, i had absolutely NO CLUE that the cut that i had just finished watching (this one right here obviously) was buthchered. That's right, i just finished watching it being completely blown away by its utter brilliance and magnificence and i find out that this was a rough, butchered cut of the movie. This goes to show the genius of Orson welles, even when his films are torn up by greedy studio executives, his films still
donlongluca 1 year ago 2
Anybody notice the in-joke at 5:18? The newspaper that Eugene is reading is the Indianapolis Enquirer, and the first column on the page is a dramatic review by Jed Leland.
goback3spaces 2 years ago 7
@goback3spaces great discovery pal!
Strokton 2 weeks ago
Such a pity we cannot see the original :-(
but thanks a lot for sharing :-)
Welles was a genius, both as director and actor. And I have always much admired Joseph Cotten who could do anything on the screen. Just comparing this performance to what he did, for example, in The Shadow of a Doubt shows well how versatile his talent was.
mrsRogue 2 years ago 2
Audience pandering never helps art, but even a butchered masterpiece still contains many glimpses of genius. Thanks for posting. Agnes Moorehead was a force of nature. I'd love to have seen her in more meaty and dramatic roles in her golden years, not that Endora wasn't a lot of fun.
purewonka 2 years ago
The butchering weakens the film for me. :( I wish i could see it as intended. Ending stinks. "Georgie" did not deserve ANY girl; without SEEING him ask forgiveness, i can't buy it. I found the middle part choppy. BUT It DOES endure; we know Welles had a higher ideal for it. Cinematically it is awe inspiring. I love Agnes M. in her scenes. I'm a Joseph Cotton fan too. Too ahead of his time, O.W. = his curse. Today, the outcome would be better for him. Thanks for posting this. God Bless All.
ZANTEDESH 2 years ago 7
@ZANTEDESH I agree 100% except in one regard: if Welles had tried to make this film, or Citizen Kane, for that matter, today, it would not have had the chance to be butchered because it never would have gotten bankrolled.
arandomspectator 2 years ago
Magnificent Ambersons = Magnificent Film. It is a tragedy that so much was edited from the movie, and that cheesy ending was tacked on to give it a happy, more palatable ending for movie goers who just couldnt understand the masterpiece they were witnessing at the time. The criminals at RKO butchered probably the greatest film ever made, yet, even in its ruined state it still endures as one of the greatest films ever made.
orsonfreud 2 years ago 2