p e n g u i n d e v i l

Well, for sure my region free player has given up the ghost. We watched The Magnificent Amberson’s and this French disc gave my Malata a final chance. Sometimes you just have to give up, which I think is what RKO did with this movie. We had been pondering it due to watching Citizen Kane and this is supposed to be one of Welles big classics, after all, it is the film he followed Kane with. Of course, I had to opt for the 1942 version rather than the 2002 TV movie… Sadly this classic version of The Magnificent Amberson’s had about an hour of it removed, it seems to lighten up the story. I don’t think I know anyone (except my mother) who would be in support of taking out stuff so that movies aren’t such downers. The thought that they just destroy these films and that studio executives can been so short-sighted about the value of these movies is weird and disturbing. As it stands, this is still pretty good. It was nicely cast, well shot and had the bones of a good historical family drama.

sweet little george

Joseph Cotton stars as Eugene, and does another great job. He is a young fellow in love. But he makes one mistake too many and his girl, Isabel Amberson, hooks up with another fellow instead. Eventually Eugene moves away and Isabel and her husband have a child… George, a terrible little boy at that, elitist and arrogant. Many years later, Eugene comes back to town with his daughter and attends a ball at the Amberson’s mansion. Of course, Eugene and Isabel are still in love and the boy and Eugene’s daughter are in love, but the boy just can’t seem to get over his overwhelming dislike of Eugene and the pain of the attention his mother gives him, as he feels that Eugene (though now a successful inventor of horseless carriages) is far beneath the Amberson’s level. This leads to all sorts of troubles for everyone, especially the Amberson’s.

I imagine with what is on display here, that this may well have been another great classic film. Alas, too much is lost here (and actually burned, apparently), but it is still quite worth seeing. As you can witness a severe example of what studios can do if left alone. If the lost footage turns out to still exist, it would be great to see it all reassembled.