The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Orson Welles’s “The Magnificent Ambersons”
After the enormous success of "Citizen Kane," RKO gave Orson Welles another film contract. With it, he decided to adapt Booth Tarkington's 1918 novel, "The Magnificent Ambersons." Despite giving Welles creative control in the beginning, RKO's shifting management also shifted the working relationship with Welles. At the end of filming, Welles travelled to South America to film a documentary. While away, RKO reshot scenes and created a fabricated 'happy' ending. Despite this interference by the studio, the film still is regarded as one of the greatest films Welles ever produced.
"The Magnificent Ambersons" is about a family at the turn of the 20th century. Their wealth and power slowly starts to decay as America becomes more industrialized. The family must begin reconciling with their own insignificance. All of this is made more difficult by the film's protagonist, George, who's spoiled, abrasive behavior only digs the family deeper and deeper into relegation and obscurity.
The film opens in 1873 before our lead character, George, was born. The Ambersons are the wealthiest family in their Midwestern city, as demonstrated by their enormous house. It is apparent that we are in Victorian times, as by the dress of the characters. Welles films these 'early' scenes with the outer perimeter of the frames edged or rimmed with a soft focus, faded, vignette effect. The effect looks like an old photography, specifically one from this time period. Welles then allows time to pass (as it will continue). With the passing of time, we see the environment slowly begin to change. The oncoming 20th century will continue to be ever-present and more apparent as the film progresses.
A young man named Eugene Morgan attempts to court Isabelle Amberson but gets denied. We see Eugene drive away in a motorized contraption of his own making, driving away from the Amberson house while horse and carriages still roam the streets. Eventually, Isabelle marries Wilbur Manifer, a passionless man whom she does not really love. They eventually have a child, our protagonist George. As a child, George is a spoiled tyrant. He is shown speeding through the town on his horse and carriage causing mayhem to everyone. He even gets into a fist-fight with another boy before the boy's father breaks it up. Everyone in the town despises George and actively wish for his 'comeuppance.' George, along with his family, are the picturesque Victorian family, from dress to behavior. Aristocratic and domineering grandfather (Major Amberson), quiet and passive father, quiet and resentful mother, and spoiled, extravagant, and misbehaved grandson, George. In the shot below, Welles places the family in this painterly shot to demonstrate their fabricated image. Like a painting, these people are stuck to this time, unable to progress forward.
Time continues to pass once again (as it continue to do), and we now find ourselves at the beginning of the 20th century. The Ambersons are hosting one of their famous balls. The narrator (Welles himself) tells us that this will be the last great ball the Ambersons will ever host. Even the narration of this being the last ball gives us another feeling of time slipping away from us, even though we've just arrived. George, who is home from college during the holidays, attends his family's ball. Welles' camera is free to move unhindered through the enormous Amberson mansion on a dolly. This freedom of camera movement provides the viewer a feeling of being present in the scene, rather than observing stock images of the characters. At the party is Eugene, Isabelle's old rejected boyfriend. Eugene is now an automobile maker. It comes up in discussion the new advancements in 'horse-less carriages' and their effect on the new modern world. This is how Eugene makes his money now, through the enterprise of industry (a 20th century concept). In this way, Eugene, as well as his motherless daughter Lucy, represent the new 20th century. Their 'new money,' their clothing, and industrial perspective directly contrast with the 'old money' aristocratic Ambersons. Welles even addresses this with their dialogue and even their movements. Before dancing, Eugene has a line: "There aren't any old times. The old times are dead. The only times are new times." Eugene, who represents the future, dances toward camera. George, who is stubborn, stagnant, and represents the past, dances with Lucy away from the camera. Welles will continue to demonstrate (both with dialogue and visually) the differing directions these characters are headed in time.
George takes a liking to Lucy, Eugene's daughter, while Isabelle openly flirts with Eugene despite being a married woman. George's aunt Fanny tells him that she is interested in Eugene and believes she has a shot with him (being the only single woman in the family.) Fanny and Eugene are both alike, as they both act like children. This directly contrasts with Eugene and Lucy who are both mature, honest, and intelligent. Lucy tells George that she wants to be an inventor like her father, while George tells her he wants to be a 'yachtsman.' The disparity in perspective creates the idea of George and his family's eventually downfall. This downfall is also sub-textual, as the 1942 audience watching this film would have been very aware of the changes the 20th century brought.
The next day, George and Lucy are riding through the snow on a horse and carriage. They pass by Eugene, Fanny, Isabelle, and Isabelle's brother Jack on a "horseless carriage" that has gotten stuck in the snow. When the scene opens, the jingling of bells from George and Lucy's sleigh is aggressively interrupted by the sound of Eugene cranking the engine of this carriage. Here, Welles uses sounds to demonstrate the ideas of 20th century violently replacing the 19th century. The cranking of an industrial machine completely covers the sounds of sleigh riding. George and Lucy then take a tumble off of the horse and land in the snow. The horse then runs away (into the past) while they remain with the 'automobile.' After getting it working again, George and Lucy join the others on Eugene's automotive invention. Welles closes the scene on the only 'iris' shot of the film, as the iris of the camera closes around the automobile driving away.
Some time later, Wilbur Manifer (George's father) loses money on bad investments and eventually dies. It does not seem George is very affected at all by his father's passing. On top of this, it leaves room for his mother Isabelle to take up a new husband in Eugene. Time continues to pass and the Ambersons begin to sell off their land. Land ownership is how the family makes their money and by selling it, they are selling off their own wealth. On the other hand, Eugene continues to make more and more money, as his automobiles have now taken off. He even has his own factory which mass produces them. Eugene takes the Amberson women on a tour of this factory. In the scenes, it is visually striking to notice the women in their 19th century dresses amongst the greasy, industrial machines of the 20th century factory. The visual rendering strikes an important note that continues the themes we've discussed about the film.
While taking a trip through town on a horse and carriage, George asks Lucy for her hand in marriage. She declines his proposal, much to his displeasure. In this scene, Welles films the couple from the low angle side of the carriage on a handheld or dolly cam. Normally, this shot would be a straight ahead shot of the characters facing the camera in the carriage. The camera would be right above where the horse(s) would be, only the horses wouldn't be there as it would take place on a sound stage. However in this instance, the camera is following the action as the actors actually ride in a carriage. This is another example of Welles' inspirational direction, as it provides depth to the image, rather than creating a stock image for the audience to view. Rather, the audience can feel as though they are walking alongside the carriage with the characters. They can feel as though they are in the scenes themselves. This depth of framing also allows viewers to see the characters as they exist in the real world. There is visual depth of inhabitation. Characters are very much apart of their world, a REAL world, rather than staged images. Once you see the characters inhabiting their real landscape, you also become aware of the changes to the environment from the beginning of the film. The town looks bigger, as there are more shops, stores, and other businesses. Commercialized industry has now become a major part of the community, ushering in the new 20th century age. Lucy's rejection of George' proposal is thematically linked to the changing of time and attitudes. George does not fit the new burgeoning world and is now 'out of place' in it.
These themes are more formally addressed in the following scene. Eugene and Lucy attend an Amberson dinner, where everyone is seated at their giant table. The grandfather Major and his son Jack speak with Eugene about the new automobile manufacturers that are opening nearby, thus providing Eugene with competition. Eugene welcomes the competition and speaks about how the new inflow of automobiles will make streets wider and longer. So long that they will stretch into rural areas, thus eliminating the need for everyone to cram into major cities. All of this is making the Amberson's land values less profitable and is continuing to add to their decline. When George begins to verbally attack Eugene by calling the automobile stupid and pointless, Eugene delivers the lines: "I’m not sure George is wrong about automobiles. With all their speed forward they may be a step backward in civilization. It may be that they won’t add to the beauty of the world, nor to the life of men’s souls. I am not sure. But automobiles have come, and almost all outward things are going to be different because of what they bring. They’re going to alter war, and they’re going to alter peace. I think men’s minds are going to be changed in subtle ways because of automobiles. And it may be that George is right. It may be that ten or twenty years from now, if we can see the inward change in men by that time, I shouldn’t be able to defend the gasoline engine, but would have to agree with him that automobiles “had no business to be invented.'" With this intelligent remark by Eugene, he concedes to George's fears of the future. After all, the future is a very cold place to be. But it comes nonetheless and you must embrace it for better or worse.
When Eugene begins to come calling on Isabelle, George prevents her from seeing him. Eugene tells Isabelle that she must let go of her son's clinging to her and make her own decisions. She cannot bear to upset her son and goes away with him travelling. Upon their return, she becomes very ill and dies. After her death, the entire Amberson family begins to fall apart. The Major also dies. Without providing a deed to the house, the family must move out. Jack leaves permanently to take a job in another city. George decides to live off his aunt Fanny while he trains to become a lawyer. However, Fanny reveals to him that she's lost all her money on bad investments. The family is now penniless. In the below shot, Welles demonstrates this through the furniture and other household items being covered up in sheets. Everything the Ambersons once valued is now valueless. Through this visual rendering, you can connect that to the idea that their entire way of life is now over. Everything they worked so hard to build is now covered up. Their household art, their style, their clothes, their attitudes, and their perspectives are all deemed worthless. They held on too tightly to their ideas and way of life that they become trapped underneath them as a new world paved over everything.
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