Nearly 80 years after The Magnificent Ambersons set was dismantled, the Culver City Historical Society discovered some of the elaborate stained glass windows from the mansion set gathering dust at Culver Studios.
Culver Studios’ owner, Hackman Capital Partners, began conversations with the historical society in 2019 to discuss the future of four cinematic historic windows that had been hidden away for decades. One was from Gone with the Wind, which can be seen in the final scene after Rhett has left Scarlett and she climbs the massive staircase. The other three are from Orson Welles’ sophomore movie for RKO Pictures, The Magnificent Ambersons.
Hackman Capital Partners decided to restore the Gone with the Wind window and the two largest windows from The Magnificent Ambersons and put them up for display on the historic studio lot. The third and smallest of the Ambersons windows will be installed at the historical society’s Archives and Resource Center.
In Welles’ 1942 film, the stained glass windows can be spotted near the fabulous mansion staircase, which was the centerpiece of the set. The staircase, as well as some of the other parts of the Ambersons set, were used again in the films Cat People and The Falcon in Danger.
The Ambersons set was designed by Mark-Lee Kirk and decorated by Darrell Silvera, Albert S. D’Agostino and A. Roland Fields. The Magnificent Ambersons was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Black-and-White Art Direction-Interior Decoration.
The Culver City Historical Society, which began in 1979, was created for the purpose of collecting, preserving and exhibiting the history, cultural and civic accomplishments of Culver City and its environs.
In a new, seven-minute video (below), the story of the historical society’s salvage and restoration of one of the windows is described.
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