The Magnificent Ambersons

Friday, October 26 - Monday, October 29, 2018

“Orson Welles’s beautiful, nostalgia-suffused second feature—the subject of one of cinema’s greatest missing-footage tragedies—harks back to turn-of-the-twentieth-century Indianapolis, chronicling the inexorable decline of the fortunes of an affluent family. Adapted from an acclaimed Booth Tarkington novel and featuring restlessly inventive camera work and powerful performances from a cast including Joseph Cotten, Tim Holt, and Agnes Moorehead, the film traces the rifts deepening within the Amberson clan—at the same time as the forces of progress begin to transform the city they once ruled. Though RKO excised over forty minutes of footage, now lost to history, and added an incongruously upbeat ending, The Magnificent Ambersons is an emotionally rich family saga and a masterful elegy for a bygone chapter of American life.” – Criterion Collection

The new 4K restoration of THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS was undertaken by the Criterion Collection from a well-preserved 35mm nitrate fine-grain made from the original camera negative and held by the Museum of Modern Art. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from a 35mm print with a Duplex Variable Area optical track held by the British Film Institute’s BBC Collection.  

Screening as part of our retrospective series “Directed by Orson Welles,” from Oct 26 through Nov 1.


  • Country USA
  • Year 1942
  • Running Time 88 minutes
  • Distributor Warner Brothers
  • Director Orson Welles
  • Writer Booth Tarkington (from the novel by), Orson Welles (screenplay)
  • Editor Robert Wise
  • Cinematographer Stanley Cortez
  • Cast Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Ann Baxter, Tim Holt, Agnes Moorehead, Erskine Sanford, Richard Bennett, Ray Collins

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.