Editing Orson Welles (section)

=== ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' ===
{{Main|The Magnificent Ambersons (film)}}
[[File:Welles-Magnificent-Ambersons-Pub-A16.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|Welles at work on ''[[The Magnificent Ambersons (film)|The Magnificent Ambersons]]'' (1942)]]
"The fate of ''[[The Magnificent Ambersons (film)|The Magnificent Ambersons]]'' is one of film history's great tragedies," wrote film historian Robert L. Carringer.<ref name="Carringer Ambersons">{{cite book |last=Carringer |first=Robert L. |date=1993 |title=The Magnificent Ambersons: A Reconstruction |location=Berkeley and Los Angeles |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-07857-8}}</ref>{{Rp|1}} It was Welles's second film for RKO, adapted by Welles from [[Booth Tarkington]]'s [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning [[The Magnificent Ambersons|1918 novel]] about the declining fortunes of a wealthy Midwestern family and the [[Effects of the automobile on societies|social changes brought by the automobile age]]. Toland was unavailable, so [[Stanley Cortez]] was named cinematographer. The meticulous Cortez worked slowly and the film lagged behind schedule and over budget. In contract renegotiations with RKO over a film he was obliged to direct, Welles had conceded final cut.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://collider.com/orson-welles-the-magnificent-ambersons/|title=Orson Welles Running into Trouble on Citizen Kane Follow-Up, The Magnificent Ambersons |date=March 31, 2015|newspaper=Collider|access-date=January 31, 2017|archive-date=January 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109103952/https://collider.com/orson-welles-the-magnificent-ambersons/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:The-Magnificent-Ambersons-6.jpg|thumb|Promotional photograph of Joseph Cotten and Agnes Moorehead in the excised concluding scene of ''The Magnificent Ambersons'']]
''The Magnificent Ambersons'' was in production October 28, 1941, to January 22, 1942,<ref name="AFI Ambersons">{{cite web |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/27328 |title=The Magnificent Ambersons |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] |publisher=[[American Film Institute]] |access-date=April 25, 2024 |archive-date=April 15, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240415162118/https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/27328 |url-status=live }}</ref> with a cast including Cotten, Collins, Moorehead, [[Dolores Costello]], [[Anne Baxter]] and [[Tim Holt]].<ref name="AFI Ambersons"/> RKO chief George Schaefer understood that presenting a downbeat period film without marquee stars was a risk, but he was reassured by a special screening of the film-in-progress Welles arranged for him on November 28. Schaefer was an expert in film distribution and attended to the marketing strategy.<ref name="Carringer Ambersons"/>{{Rp|1}}

Required to start filming the "Carnaval" segment of ''[[It's All True (film)|It's All True]]'' in early February 1942, Welles rushed to edit ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' and finish his acting scenes in ''Journey into Fear''. He ended his lucrative [[The Orson Welles Show (radio series)|CBS radio show]]<ref name="Wilson">Wilson, Richard, "It's Not ''Quite'' All True". ''[[Sight & Sound]]'', Volume 39 Number 4, Autumn 1970.</ref>{{Rp|189}} February 2, flew to Washington, D.C., for a briefing, and then lashed together a rough cut of ''Ambersons'' in Miami with editor [[Robert Wise]].<ref name="Welles TIOW"/>{{Rp|369–370}}

A finished 131-minute version, edited per Welles's detailed instructions, was previewed March 17, 1942, in Pomona. Schaefer was present, and was rattled by the audience response: 75 percent of the preview cards were negative. The film was received more favorably by a preview audience in the more upscale Pasadena on March 19, with only 25 percent of the preview cards negative. But the experience led Schaefer to authorize the studio to make whatever changes necessary to make ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' a commercial success.<ref name="Carringer Ambersons"/>{{Rp|1–2}}

Wise, whom Welles had left in charge of postproduction, removed nearly 50 minutes of footage from Welles's cut, and several scenes — including the ending — were rewritten and reshot. [[List of films cut over the director's opposition|Over Welles's opposition]], ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' was cut to 88 minutes.<ref name="Carringer Ambersons"/>{{Rp|2}}<ref name="AFI Ambersons"/> Like the film, [[Bernard Herrmann]]'s score was heavily edited by RKO. When more than half the score was removed and replaced by music by [[Roy Webb]], Herrmann bitterly severed his ties with the film and promised legal action if he was not removed from the credits.<ref>Husted, Christopher, liner notes for ''The Magnificent Ambersons: Original 1942 Motion Picture Score'', Preamble (PRCD 1783), Fifth Continent Music Corp. 1990</ref>

Even in its released form, ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' is considered one of the best films of all time.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/collection/100-best-movies/6295231/the-magnificent-ambersons-1942/ |title=The 100 Best Movies of the Past 10 Decades: The Magnificent Ambersons |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=July 26, 2023 |access-date=April 29, 2024 |archive-date=April 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429062756/https://time.com/collection/100-best-movies/6295231/the-magnificent-ambersons-1942/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The film was nominated for four [[15th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]], including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], and added to the [[National Film Registry]] in 1991.