The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Genre: Drama / Romance
Duration: 88 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Orson Welles
Stars: Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello and Tim Holt
IMDb score:
7,6 (28.603)
Releasedate: 10 July 1942
The Magnificent Ambersons plot
"Real life screened more daringly than it’s ever been before!"
The young, handsome but wild Eugene Morgan wants to marry Isabel Amberson, the daughter of a wealthy wealthy family. But instead she marries the dull but reliable Wilbur Minafer. Years later, when Wilbur has passed away, Eugene returns and asks Isabel to marry him again. This time she agrees, but her spoiled son tries to sabotage the marriage.
Actors and actresses
Eugene Morgan
Isabel Amberson Minafer
Lucy Morgan
George Minafer
Fanny Minafer
Jack Amberson
Roger Bronson
Major Amberson
Narrator (voice)
Citizen (uncredited)
Reviews & comments
starbright boy (moderator films)
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- 22474 messages
- 5144 votes
I think the film is deliberately sterile because that's partly the theme. Missing your life because it doesn't fit the image you want to convey of yourself. It must get its emotion from the feeling of a missed life that clearly emerges in the second half. And that doesn't really work, because that's where most of it seems broken. The film goes in fits and starts towards the end. The film occasionally changes tone, it is sometimes explained, scenes no longer run and the much-discussed ending is really a mockery. Unlike The One Ring, I'm almost convinced that the film would have been much better without the studio interventions, although I'm afraid we'll never know for sure. Because I liked the best pieces better than Citizen Kane. I think this could have been a movie that slowly got under my skin and touched me after the movie without really touching me, for the whole thing. But it doesn't now.
3.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Kiekerjan
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- 119 messages
- 106 votes
American 'Turn of the century' drama in which a wealthy family is slowly but surely swallowed up by the rise of the automobile industry and the stubbornness of (grand)son George. The film is introduced by the voice of Orson Welles and tries to give the images an old-fashioned touch through filters and static camera work. The first hour is not very interesting. George is deliberately portrayed as an annoying good-for-nothing who constantly stands in the way of the happiness of his mother and her true love Eugene. He's a childish, annoying brat whose motivation I can't or won't understand. As the main character, he does more harm than good. The story is clearly heading for a climax in which George finally gets his 'comeuppance', but along the way almost never manages to captivate. Joseph Cotton delivers by far the best acting performance and, just like in Citizen Kane, is a real added value, but is unfortunately limited to a modest supporting role. The final half hour demonstrates the family's decline and for a brief moment reaches a higher level, but is eventually killed by a totally inappropriate ending. Apparently Orson Welles had a different denouement in mind, which was turned into a classic Happy End by the studio behind his back. As with von Stroheim's Greed, the cut material was then destroyed. Unforgivable. Welles does a great job as a director. Lots of unusual perspectives, long takes, deep focus, close-ups where necessary. Sets are shrouded in darkness and often there is a strong contrast between light and dark through low-key lighting. It's visually interesting and quite inventive for the time. In terms of content, however, it is not half as good.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Shadowed
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- 11421 messages
- 6719 votes
Nothing.
That's a shame, because I had high hopes after seeing Citizen Kane recently. Same director, so hopefully also a bit of the same style. But where I mainly found Citizen Kane to excel between the black-and-white films, I found The Magnificent Ambersons to be a rather standard black-and-white event.
All the freshness of Citizen Kane is pretty much gone and has been displaced with dullness and mostly dullness. An 88 minute movie was kind of hard to watch. I wasn't really taken into anything, and there were very few points that drew me back into the movie just a little bit.
I also see few interesting characters in the film. Only Baxter managed to revive the film a few times. For the rest, they were mostly boring, uninteresting characters, most of which I already forgot what the name was when the film had just ended.
Nice detail in the environments, but rather boring and empty directed by a director who could create really interesting styles. But all the freshness and uniqueness has been dispelled in this film, leading to a rather dull event. Too bad, but this really didn't appeal to me.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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