In Brazil, on the trail of the Lost Splendor of the Ambersons

In the history of cinema, several films of great artistic value and considered unfairly shortened have already focused the attention of moviegoers. Thus, the original version of Raptors (1924), by Erich von Stroheim, with an original duration of eight and a half hours, of which only three and fifty-nine hours remain following the reassembly by its producers. Or, Metropolis (1927), by Fritz Lang, which was missing almost half an hour after, again, the intervention of the producers. Almost all of the missing scenes from this film were found in Argentina, at the Museum of Cinema in Buenos Aires, in 2008.

“This is our last chance to find Welles’ film in its original version. If he’s not in Rio, he’s nowhere to be found. Joshua Grossberg

Since this miraculous find, moviegoers have been chasing a Grail: the full copy of The Splendor of the Ambersons (1942), by Orson Welles, his second film, produced just after Citizen Kane (1941). Welles judged that The Splendor of the Ambersons would have been a superior film to its first feature film, if it hadn’t been slaughtered by its producers. It depicted the disintegration of an aristocratic family whose arrogance did not allow it to understand that a new dominant class, linked to the automobile industry, was preparing to replace it. Amberson was reduced from a duration of 2:12 to 1:28, with an altered ending and additional scenes shot without Welles’ agreement. As the latter recalled in the 1970s: “They destroyed Amberson and Amberson broke me. “ But Welles’ injury may soon heal.

The original destroyed

In April, US documentary filmmaker Joshua Grossberg announced that he would travel to Brazil for two months, starting in September, to find the original copy of The Splendor of the Ambersons. Accompanied by his producers, Joseph Schroeder and Gary Greenblatt, he will also shoot a documentary, In search of the lost copy: the production of The Splendor of the Ambersons Orson Welles, on the history of the film, which should be broadcast on the TCM channel in 2022. It will then be the 80e anniversary of the release of The Splendor of the Ambersons. “This is our last chance to find Welles’ film in its original version, Joshua Grossberg believes. If he’s not in Rio, he’s nowhere to be found. But there is a non-zero probability that the copy of the film could emerge. After all, no one has conducted research in Brazil. “

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