The Magnificent Ambersons
|
|
The Magnificent Ambersons is a 1918 novel by Booth Tarkington. It tells the story of a man who wants to marry a wealthy girl, but she rejects him for another man. When they are older, and both free to marry, her son works to keep them apart.
The 1942 film version by Orson Welles was Welles' second film; he wrote the screenplay, directed it, and narrated it. However, RKO felt that it was too long, and seeking a more commercially appealing product, deleted fifty minutes while Welles was out of the country. The deleted portion was destroyed, and no copy of it exists.
It stars Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Tim Holt, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford, Richard Bennett and Orson Welles.
The movie was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Agnes Moorehead), Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (Stanley Cortez), and Best Picture. The film has also been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
The Magnificent Ambersons was remade for television in 2002, starring Madeleine Stowe, Bruce Greenwood, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Gretchen Mol, Dina Merrill and James Cromwell. It was directed by Alfonso Arau.