THE RARE GENIUS OF ORSON WELLES PART ONE: THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS

 

It is an easier story to tell, that after Orson Welles' debut feature film, Citizen Kane, it was all downhill from there. Orson himself joked, "I started at the top and worked my way down." The truth is however far more difficult to square with the myth of a great artist undone by, as David Fincher described, "delusional hubris". That is, that the apparent decline of Welles' career was caused by his own arrogance. This is however, while appearing to be a statement of discernment and unvarnished truth telling, a profound misunderstanding of the filmography of Orson Welles, post Citizen Kane. Did Welles achieve Kane all by himself? No, of course not. No film is accomplished without a dedicated and talented team of artists. From the work of (uncredited) screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz to the cinematography of Gregg Toland, Citizen Kane was brought to life by many hard working and talented people. The driving force behind Kane, as with any great Director, was undeniably however, Orson Welles. 

To sustain the argument that Welles' subsequent years of being on the outside and being unable to achieve anything that matched up to his debut, is however most difficult to achieve when one actually examines his work post Kane. Even while assaulted by uncaring studio interference, with micro-budgets and all manner of bad luck, this series will examine how and why Orson Welles artistic genius still burned bright. From The Magnificent Ambersons to F For Fake, there is not a film directed by Welles that fails to entrance and beguile with its elite level artistry. Each film is a work of genius, compromised or not. 

THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (1942)

It is a challenge to follow up the film that countless people now consider to be in the very shortlist of greatest motion pictures ever made, with many declaring it the greatest, period. Orson Welles was up to the challenge. The Magnificent Ambersons is an exceptionally nuanced exploration of love and the capricious nature of life. What usually accompanies talk about Welles' second feature is how, unlike Citizen Kane, he did not possess complete creative control, and as such an incongruous happy ending was attached and the running time cut with little care or sensitivity to the nature of the work. It is a very sad thing indeed that Welles' cut is most likely lost or destroyed. Even so, The Magnificent Ambersons remains a work of considerable genius. That Welles' vision was maintained, even when it was compromised by those at the studio, is a point in favor for the argument I am outlining here; that Orson Welles did not have an artistic decline. 

The Magnificent Ambersons however is the story of a family's decline. It carries an emotional weight to it that is arguably not found in Citizen Kane (which was intentionally cold and detached), and as such it allows Welles to stretch his artistic legs and display his range. Even with the reduced running time and a most inappropriate ending that leaves things far too clean - this is a story of how life's paths and unexpected tragedies can leave even "great" people with nothing, after all - The Magnificent Ambersons is an exceptional film. Joseph Cotten's subtle, heartbreaking performance as a man whose true love was forever just out of reach, is among his very best. Agnes Moorehead likewise gives a career high performance as a woman who is watching life go by from the sidelines. It is the precise and overpowering way in which Welles crafts this story of unrequited love and the almost mundane tragedies that can come to us all, no matter the power and wealth one possesses, that gives this picture its almost magical quality. In this way, The Magnificent Ambersons has a lot in common with Citizen Kane. Both express the uncaring way in which life can leave a person in ruins, no matter their ostensible privilege or position in society.

Arguably the most important character in The Magnificent Ambersons is George, played with obnoxious flair by Tim Holt. Welles sets him up early as one needing to receive "his comeuppance". George's journey in the film, from an arrogant belief that the world is there to meet every one of his desires, to a man left decimated by the uncaring nature of life, is the center around which the entire film rotates. The unfortunate happy ending is at odds with the solipsism of George, and the just desserts that come to him, it is true. It would be unkind and untrue however to say that it ruins the film. The ending's happy note is brief and cannot extinguish the mastery with which Welles and his team craft the rise and downfall of this man. 

If The Magnificent Ambersons is meant to be a sign of Welles', near immediate, decline, then it is a remarkably strange one to hold up as evidence. This is a great film. It reaches artistic highs that few ever even approach. Even with that tacked on ending, it is still undeniably a work of genius. It is quiet, and nuanced, and not as obviously as new or shocking as Kane, but it is quite clearly from the same vision of a genius. To be able to examine the everyday tragedy, and the everyday joy that come from simply putting one foot after the other and making our way through life, in such beautiful clarity and with such unusual insight, is something that only a great film maker could do. If Citizen Kane was evidence of Orson Welles' daring invention, then The Magnificent Ambersons is evidence of his unusual eye for the human story. There is a heart here that is mostly absent from Kane, and proof of how Welles was incapable of doing any story in anything other than an unusual and compelling way.