I’ve been seeing stuff about a Blu-ray edition of Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941) arriving in September. That’s good news and all, but I just noticed something that’s not getting near the attention it deserves — at the same time, The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) is also hitting the streets as a regular DVD.
Even though what we see today was edited to almost incoherence by RKO — Welles later said the first hour was left pretty much as he intended, The Magnificent Ambersons is a masterpiece. And it’s got Tim Holt in it. What more do you need?
You can find out more about the picture at ambersons.com. That’s where the behind the scenes shot of Welles and Holt came from.
Thanks for the info again. Man, you’re where I go to for Tim Holt info now.
Thanks for the heads-up. I read and reviewed Booth Tarkington’s novel earlier this year and really enjoyed it, but I’ve only seen a few clips from the film.
Thank you very much for the info! I have The Magnificent Ambersons in Region 2 format from the UK as I luckily I have the ability to watch Region 2 DVD’s. I have just pre-ordered the Blu-Ray version of Citizen Kane so I can get The Magnificent Ambersons in Region 1 DVD format!
Even considering the changes that RKO made in the movie while Welles was in South America, it’s a fantastic work, and there are those who prefer it to Kane. For so many decades the missing footage was a much a grail as the missing footage from Greed. We’ll never see either, I’m thinking.
Holt is usually thought of as a negative, but I think he did exactly what he was told to do. Physically he’s stiff–nearly stuffed–but you’d have to blame Welles for that. I love Ambersons, personally. It does help if you realize that the ending was added to the picture.
While I do prefer Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons is great and largely underrated. Reading this post, I now want to watch it again soon as I have not seen it in awhile. Wouldn’t it be great if movie theaters were to rerun it? Thanks for the news about the upcoming DVD.