As usual, fantastic commentary, Henry! I can't believe I just saw a reaction to "The Magnificent Ambersons"! As everyone has said, it's a mutilated movie (like most of his movies), the last fifteen minutes is the studio, not Welles. This will be a common theme for most of the rest of his films, he only had total control for "Citzen Kane" and a couple of other projects. He's so great that the films are still impressive, even in their mutilated form!
I heard something once in a sermon from our Unitarian minister that also may seem superficially to be a contradiction that you might like, Henry. He said (long ago, so I'm paraphrasing): "everyone should meditate. If you're busy, one hour of meditation per week should be your minimum. But if you find you're so busy that you don't have one hour, then you need three hours per week."
"My gosh, the old times are certainly starting all over again." "Old times, not a bit. There aren't any old times. When times are gone, they're not old, they're dead. There aren't any times but new times." Fun Fact: Robert Wise's first directing experience, although uncredited (see below). Automobile Enthusiast Fact: 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, NV. Location Location Fact: Orson Welles demanded that the inside of the Ambersons' mansion be built as if it was a real house, with continuous rooms of four walls and ceilings. This enabled his camera to roam around the house freely and shoot from any angle. The set of the Amberson mansion, specifically the grand staircase, was reused in Robert Siodmak's The Spiral Staircase (1946). Studio Hacks Fact: RKO chopped 50 minutes of the film and added a happy ending while Orson Welles was out of the country. The footage was subsequently destroyed; the only record of the removed scenes is the cutting continuity transcript. The consensus of opinion according to nearly everyone who saw the original conclusion - which included a tour of the decaying Amberson mansion - was that it was much more powerful than the tacked-on "happy" ending. The Rest Of The Story Fact: The recutting of this film caused a deep rift in Orson Welles' friendships with Robert Wise and Joseph Cotten. Cotten later wrote several letters of apology to Welles, and the two later reconciled. Welles and Wise, however, remained on acrimonious terms for some 42 years until Wise was invited to come to the stage by Gilbert Cates when the Directors Guild of America honored Welles with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984. The former rivals ended up shaking hands as the crowd rewarded them with a standing ovation.
To think that the first automobile in the movie was real, and it still worked! The original ending was destroyed, which means the public never saw it? Thanks for sharing 😊
What a wise reaction to one of my favorite movies! Unfortunately the movie we have was severely mangled by the studio while Welles was out of the country. The original rough cut was approximately 140 min. While I’m sure Welles would have tightened it on his own, he wasn’t given a chance. Some scenes were even reshot by different directors including everything that came after George’s “comeuppance” scene. But what’s left is still so very, very good!
Welles original cut for The Magnificient Ambersons ran roughly 130 minutes but the studio cut another 40 minutes and changed the ending without Welles involvement. Then the studio destroyed the negatives for the excised portions and Welles original vision was lost to history. Tim Holt mostly starred in B-grade Westerns before and after his turn as George Amberson Minafer in The Magnificent Ambersons. His other great role was in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) opposite Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston. Anne Baxter also featured in some other top notch classics, including The Razor's Edge (1946), Yellow Sky (1948), and All About Eve (1950). And Joseph Cotten also worked with Orson Welles on Journey into Fear (1943) and The Third Man (1949), but he featured in other top notch films as well, including Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Gaslight (1944), Duel in the Sun (1946), Portrait of Jennie (1948), and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964).
It's sad they would destroy it instead of storing it for future use. Some of these movies are on my list. I'll add the rest to my list as well 😉. I've reacted to Shadow of a Doubt, as well as Gaslight. You can find them on my channel 😊
Fantastic reaction indeed. Your analysis is top-notch. Believe it or not this makes me want to recommend the excellent 1960 film THE TIME MACHINE similarly about how things change. Welles'film is brilliant on so many levels that it's something to study. The one controversial thing about it is that the producers at RKO cut some 30 minutes out of Welles' original cut and shot new more expositions scenes that appear toward the end of the film including the last scene at the hospital. Composer Bernard Herrmann had his name taken off the end credits because he got so angry at RKO for deleting some of his score and hiring another composer for the added scenes. But it still works well in the end although I'd have loved to have seen Welles' original cut, but sadly those cut scenes film stock were apparently incinerated although there's been a decades long search for those missing scenes. Once again, wonderful reaction. Looking forward to further adventures with you and Orson who pretty much became one of the first indie filmmakers after working for RKO.
Thank you 😊 THE TIME MACHINE is on my movies list. I'm not sure when I'll get to it. I'd love to have seen Welles original version too. I wonder why they destroyed the footage instead of doing a "special edition" or "director's cut".
@@henryellow it was destroyed at the time long before anybody ever considered alternate cuts. Plus at the time film stock contained nitrate which was very flammable so storage of it could be haphazordous.
As usual, fantastic commentary, Henry! I can't believe I just saw a reaction to "The Magnificent Ambersons"! As everyone has said, it's a mutilated movie (like most of his movies), the last fifteen minutes is the studio, not Welles. This will be a common theme for most of the rest of his films, he only had total control for "Citzen Kane" and a couple of other projects. He's so great that the films are still impressive, even in their mutilated form!
I heard something once in a sermon from our Unitarian minister that also may seem superficially to be a contradiction that you might like, Henry. He said (long ago, so I'm paraphrasing): "everyone should meditate. If you're busy, one hour of meditation per week should be your minimum. But if you find you're so busy that you don't have one hour, then you need three hours per week."
Nice one 😂👍🏻
Basically, "take a break".
"My gosh, the old times are certainly starting all over again."
"Old times, not a bit. There aren't any old times. When times are gone, they're not old, they're dead. There aren't any times but new times."
Fun Fact: Robert Wise's first directing experience, although uncredited (see below).
Automobile Enthusiast Fact: 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, NV.
Location Location Fact: Orson Welles demanded that the inside of the Ambersons' mansion be built as if it was a real house, with continuous rooms of four walls and ceilings. This enabled his camera to roam around the house freely and shoot from any angle. The set of the Amberson mansion, specifically the grand staircase, was reused in Robert Siodmak's The Spiral Staircase (1946).
Studio Hacks Fact: RKO chopped 50 minutes of the film and added a happy ending while Orson Welles was out of the country. The footage was subsequently destroyed; the only record of the removed scenes is the cutting continuity transcript. The consensus of opinion according to nearly everyone who saw the original conclusion - which included a tour of the decaying Amberson mansion - was that it was much more powerful than the tacked-on "happy" ending.
The Rest Of The Story Fact: The recutting of this film caused a deep rift in Orson Welles' friendships with Robert Wise and Joseph Cotten. Cotten later wrote several letters of apology to Welles, and the two later reconciled. Welles and Wise, however, remained on acrimonious terms for some 42 years until Wise was invited to come to the stage by Gilbert Cates when the Directors Guild of America honored Welles with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984. The former rivals ended up shaking hands as the crowd rewarded them with a standing ovation.
To think that the first automobile in the movie was real, and it still worked!
The original ending was destroyed, which means the public never saw it?
Thanks for sharing 😊
You're welcome! 😁
Go in Peace and Walk with God. 😎 👍
What a wise reaction to one of my favorite movies! Unfortunately the movie we have was severely mangled by the studio while Welles was out of the country. The original rough cut was approximately 140 min. While I’m sure Welles would have tightened it on his own, he wasn’t given a chance. Some scenes were even reshot by different directors including everything that came after George’s “comeuppance” scene. But what’s left is still so very, very good!
George's car accident scene was shot by Welles though.
Agreed, 100%.
Welles original cut for The Magnificient Ambersons ran roughly 130 minutes but the studio cut another 40 minutes and changed the ending without Welles involvement. Then the studio destroyed the negatives for the excised portions and Welles original vision was lost to history. Tim Holt mostly starred in B-grade Westerns before and after his turn as George Amberson Minafer in The Magnificent Ambersons. His other great role was in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) opposite Humphrey Bogart and Walter Huston. Anne Baxter also featured in some other top notch classics, including The Razor's Edge (1946), Yellow Sky (1948), and All About Eve (1950). And Joseph Cotten also worked with Orson Welles on Journey into Fear (1943) and The Third Man (1949), but he featured in other top notch films as well, including Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Gaslight (1944), Duel in the Sun (1946), Portrait of Jennie (1948), and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964).
It's sad they would destroy it instead of storing it for future use.
Some of these movies are on my list. I'll add the rest to my list as well 😉.
I've reacted to Shadow of a Doubt, as well as Gaslight. You can find them on my channel 😊
Fantastic reaction indeed. Your analysis is top-notch. Believe it or not this makes me want to recommend the excellent 1960 film THE TIME MACHINE similarly about how things change. Welles'film is brilliant on so many levels that it's something to study. The one controversial thing about it is that the producers at RKO cut some 30 minutes out of Welles' original cut and shot new more expositions scenes that appear toward the end of the film including the last scene at the hospital. Composer Bernard Herrmann had his name taken off the end credits because he got so angry at RKO for deleting some of his score and hiring another composer for the added scenes. But it still works well in the end although I'd have loved to have seen Welles' original cut, but sadly those cut scenes film stock were apparently incinerated although there's been a decades long search for those missing scenes. Once again, wonderful reaction. Looking forward to further adventures with you and Orson who pretty much became one of the first indie filmmakers after working for RKO.
Thank you 😊
THE TIME MACHINE is on my movies list. I'm not sure when I'll get to it. I'd love to have seen Welles original version too. I wonder why they destroyed the footage instead of doing a "special edition" or "director's cut".
@@henryellow it was destroyed at the time long before anybody ever considered alternate cuts. Plus at the time film stock contained nitrate which was very flammable so storage of it could be haphazordous.
Oh, it's such a shame though...