Scenes from a reconstruction of The Magnificent Ambersons – Hollywood’s most infamously recut movie – will have its first-ever public showing at the Free Library of Philadelphia on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, as part of its Orson Welles & The Golden Age of Hollywood lecture series.
Wellesnet’s Ray Kelly will introduce a portion of editor and animator Brian Rose’s reconstruction during his lecture The Genius Who Couldn’t Do Anything Right.
The Magnificent Ambersons was drastically cut by RKO Radio Pictures from 131 minutes to 88 minutes without the legendary director’s approval in 1942. The exorcised footage was destroyed by the studio. Rose of Kansa City, Missouri, has used animation, the original Bernard Herrmann score and voice actors to approximate Welles’ original vision. It is a project five years in the making that made use of the detailed preview cutting continuity, scholarly research and surviving frame enlargements.
The footage chosen by Kelly for screening at the Philadelphia library and prepared by Rose will highlight the reshot “happy ending” forced on the release film by RKO. The studio-cut version depicts the characters portrayed by Joseph Cotten and Agnes Moorehead blissfully walking down a hospital corridor and letting the audience know everything has turned out fine. Welles’ original, far gloomier ending, reconstructed and animated by Rose, finds the same two characters disconnected from one another during a conversation in a rundown boarding house.
By Rose’s tally, only 13 of the 73 scenes shot by Welles were not tampered with. “In 20 years as a filmmaker and researcher, I’ve never seen another case of a movie so drastically altered,” Rose said.
Kelly, a journalist with nearly 40 years of experience in print, broadcast and online media, will explain why those changes were made to The Magnificent Ambersons and how Welles found himself a pariah just a year from the release of the landmark Citizen Kane, arguably the greatest American movie ever made.
“The butchering of The Magnificent Ambersons and RKO’s decision to abort his wartime South American documentary led to Welles being unemployable as a director for years,” Kelly said. “Despite these setbacks and more challenges to come, he produced some of the finest motion pictures of the 20th century.”
Tickets are not required, but please RSVP on Eventbrite. For more information, visit tinyurl.com/wellesFLP or email Dick Levinson at levinsonr@freelibrary.org for this and other dates in the series
The event will be held in person at Parkway Central’s Montgomery Auditorium on 1901 Vine Street.
Orson Welles & The Golden Age of Hollywood programming in the months ahead includes:
The Genius Who Couldn’t Do Anything Right with Ray Kelly of Wellesnet.com, Wednesday, July 19, 7:30 p.m.
The Genius Who Made Legendary Films on a Shoestring with Slate senior editor Sam Adams and Meta Mazaj of the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Cinema and Media Studies, Wednesday, September 6, 7:30 p.m.
The Crusader for Social Justice with actress-director Zuhairah McGill, Wednesday, October 11, 7:30 p.m.
The Legacy of Orson Welles with Bob Mondello of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Wednesday, October 18, 7:30 p.m.
The Free Library of Philadelphia hosts numerous events each year. Chartered in 1891, its mission is “to advance literacy, guide learning, and inspire curiosity.” Those wishing further information on registering for the in-person Orson Welles & The Golden Age of Hollywood lecture series may email Dick Levinson at levinsonr@freelibrary.org or register on EventBrite.
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