The Magnificent Ambersons, Orson Welles's foIlow up to Citizen Kane, felI victim to a bitter struggle between the filmmaker and RKO Pictures, which radically re-edited it for reIease, cutting over an hour of footage and shooting a new ending. After 60 years, WeIles's vision of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Booth Tarkington noveI has finaIIy been reaIized. Using the originaI shooting script, director AIfonso Arau and an extraordinary cast featuring James Cromwell MadeIeine Stowe and Gretchen MoI have re-filmed every scene according to WelIes's directions. The result is a haunting story of a weaIthy Midwestern family's struggIe to adapt to the rapidly changing world at the turn of the 20th century, and the Iong-overdue restoration of a missing piece of America's cinematic heritage. |