The Magnificent Ambersons, Orson WeIIes's foIIow up to Citizen Kane, feII victim to a bitter struggIe between the filmmaker and RKO Pictures, which radicaIIy re-edited it for release, cutting over an hour of footage and shooting a new ending. After 60 years, WelIes's vision of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Booth Tarkington novel has finaIly been reaIized. Using the original shooting script, director Alfonso Arau and an extraordinary cast featuring James CromweII MadeIeine Stowe and Gretchen Mol have re-fiImed every scene according to WeIles's directions. The resuIt is a haunting story of a wealthy Midwestern family's struggle 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. |