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IMDbPro

The Magnificent Ambersons

  • 19421942
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 28m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
25K
YOUR RATING
Anne Baxter, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins, Dolores Costello, and Tim Holt in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Theatrical Trailer
Play trailer2:05
1 Video
99+ Photos
DramaRomance
The spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.The spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.The spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
25K
YOUR RATING
    • Orson Welles
    • Fred Fleck(additional sequences)
    • Robert Wise(additional sequences)
  • Writers
    • Booth Tarkington(from the novel by)
    • Orson Welles(script writer)
    • Joseph Cotten(additional scenes)
  • Stars
    • Tim Holt
    • Joseph Cotten
    • Dolores Costello
    • Orson Welles
    • Fred Fleck(additional sequences)
    • Robert Wise(additional sequences)
  • Writers
    • Booth Tarkington(from the novel by)
    • Orson Welles(script writer)
    • Joseph Cotten(additional scenes)
  • Stars
    • Tim Holt
    • Joseph Cotten
    • Dolores Costello
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 144User reviews
    • 88Critic reviews
    • 93Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 4 Oscars

    Videos1

    The Magnificent Ambersons
    Trailer 2:05
    Watch The Magnificent Ambersons

    Photos139

    Anne Baxter, Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, and Tim Holt in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
    Joseph Cotten and Agnes Moorehead in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
    Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Richard Bennett, Ray Collins, Dolores Costello, and Don Dillaway in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
    Dolores Costello and Tim Holt in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
    Anne Baxter and Joseph Cotten in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
    Dolores Costello and Tim Holt in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
    Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, and Tim Holt in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
    Anne Baxter, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Richard Bennett, Ray Collins, Dolores Costello, Don Dillaway, and Tim Holt in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
    Agnes Moorehead in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
    Ray Collins, Dolores Costello, and Tim Holt in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
    Joseph Cotten and Dolores Costello in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
    Joseph Cotten, Richard Bennett, and Ray Collins in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Tim Holt
    Tim Holt
    • George Minafer
    Joseph Cotten
    Joseph Cotten
    • Eugene Morgan
    Dolores Costello
    Dolores Costello
    • Isabel Amberson Minafer
    Anne Baxter
    Anne Baxter
    • Lucy Morgan
    Agnes Moorehead
    Agnes Moorehead
    • Fanny Minafer
    Ray Collins
    Ray Collins
    • Jack Amberson
    Erskine Sanford
    Erskine Sanford
    • Roger Bronson
    Richard Bennett
    Richard Bennett
    • Major Amberson
    Orson Welles
    Orson Welles
    • Narrator
    • (voice)
    Edwin August
    Edwin August
    • Citizen
    • (uncredited)
    Georgia Backus
    Georgia Backus
    • Matron
    • (uncredited)
    Harry A. Bailey
    • Citizen
    • (uncredited)
    Olive Ball
    • Mary - Maid
    • (uncredited)
    Jack Baxley
    • Reverend Smith
    • (uncredited)
    William Blees
    • Young Man at Accident
    • (uncredited)
    Lyle Clement
    • Citizen
    • (uncredited)
    Bobby Cooper
    • George Minafer as a Boy
    • (uncredited)
    Don Dillaway
    Don Dillaway
    • Wilbur Minafer
    • (uncredited)
      • Orson Welles
      • Fred Fleck(additional sequences) (uncredited)
      • Robert Wise(additional sequences) (uncredited)
    • Writers
      • Booth Tarkington(from the novel by)
      • Orson Welles(script writer)
      • Joseph Cotten(additional scenes) (uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      One of former silent star Dolores Costello's last roles. She was forced to retire from the film business as her face had become badly scarred by early film makeup, which was highly caustic.
    • Goofs
      Towards the end of a long tracking shot with George and Lucy in a horse-drawn carriage, a portion of the rear end of a camera car and some sort of filmmaking equipment briefly enters the left side of frame.
    • Quotes

      Jack: My gosh, the old times are certainly starting all over again.

      Eugene: 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.

    • Crazy credits
      All of the credits except the RKO logo, the film's title and the copyright notice are recited orally (by Orson Welles) at the end of the film, not written out onscreen. As Welles recites the names of the production crew, we see such items as a motion picture camera when he says "Director of Photography" a pair of hands turning knobs as he says the words "Sound Recording By", etc.
    • Alternate versions
      From "Magnificent Obsession," a Vanity Fair article by David Kamp from April 2000: "On March 11, Robert Wise sent a 132-minute composite print (a print with picture and soundtrack synchronized) to Rio for Orson Welles to review. This is the version that scholars and Wellesophiles consider to be the 'real' Magnificent Ambersons. Curiously enough, the first blow against this version was dealt not by RKO but by Welles himself. Before he'd even received the composite print, he impulsively ordered Wise to cut 22 minutes from the middle of the film, mostly scenes concerning George Minafer's efforts to keep his mother and Eugene apart. Wise complied, and on March 17, 1942, The Magnificent Ambersons, in this form, had its first preview screening, in the Los Angeles suburb of Pomona. Sneak previews are a notoriously unreliable gauge of a film's worth and potential for success, and RKO did The Magnificent Ambersons a particular disservice by previewing it before an audience composed mostly of escapism-hungry teenagers, who had come to see the movie at the top of the bill, The Fleet's In, a feather-light wartime musical starring William Holden and Dorothy Lamour".
    • Connections
      Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Une histoire seule (1989)
    • Soundtracks
      The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo
      (1892) (uncredited)

      Music and Lyrics by Fred Gilbert

      Sung a cappella by Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter,

      Tim Holt, Agnes Moorehead and Ray Collins

    User reviews144

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Magnificent is right
    I think I'd give just about anything to see a restored version of this film, like "Touch of Evil."

    Its reputation is quite justified, however, and the top critics of today have generally agreed that it's one of Welles' best efforts as director. Some have even said that, scene for scene, it's a better film than "Citizen Kane."

    The opening montage, set to Welles' narration, is as good as anything of its kind that's been done before or after -- brilliantly, and I hate to use that word because it's so often overused, it achieves two things: 1) it sets up the dramatic side of the story, with Eugene's fawning for and losing the affections of Isabel, and 2) putting us in a specific, historical time and place. The story of George Minafer's downfall parallels the changing times of America during that time, as well as American aristocracy.

    Then there's Agnes Moorehead, who does the most amazing work as Fanny Minafer, George's aunt. She's a pressure cooker to begin with, but when the Ambersons hit rock-bottom she lets go, in a torrential, hysterical performance that's still getting praise today.

    "The Magnificent Ambersons" also carries an equally dramatic story of Hollywood's assault on artistic expression; almost everyone knows that RKO seized the film and cut it to pieces while Welles was out doing his documentary "It's All True." Today there's other ways for great directors (Kubrick, Altman) to dodge the system, but film stock and equipment in those days could only be procured from big studios, and for the remainder of Welles' career his genius would only be seen fleetingly (his adaptations of Shakespeare, Kafka's "The Trial"). It's a story as tragic as George Minafer's.
    helpful•82
    8
    • Jaime N. Christley
    • Jul 29, 1999

    Details

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    • Release date
      • July 10, 1942 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Ice & Cold Storage Company - 400 S Central Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Mercury Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 28 minutes
      • Black and White

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    Anne Baxter, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins, Dolores Costello, and Tim Holt in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
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