Roger Ryan's Magnificent Ambersons reconstruction

[Knowles Noel Shane]

Has anyone else seen this? It's simply wonderful. The story is much stronger in the full version. I was reduced to weeping by the end of it, an effect which the release version never had.

Is this the same version you were involved with, Jaime? I know you were working on it in 2002, though Roger's version claims to be from 1993. Maybe there are two home-made reconstructions out there.

I really enjoyed the use of actors to perform the missing scenes, and the inclusion of Bernard Herrmann's music from the complete score (which was released on CD years ago.)

However, there are things, dialogue and pieces of scenes, from Carringer's reconstructed screenplay which weren't used. Why not use them? Why leave out Georgie's vision of Lucy at the end of the first porch scene? Why not include shots of Georgie's diploma and Wilbur's tomb stone? To leave anything out you are making your own Pomona preview version. Carringer's screenplay is the closest we have been able to get to the original version, so why not follow it to the letter?

Also, the closing narration in the reconstructed film is not contained in the screenplay. Where did this come from? Is it from the radio version? From the book? Is it an invention?

Okay, I'll play editor too. I suggest a longer section of black screen between the scenes of Ray Collins visiting Eugene and Lucy and the arrival home of Georgie and Isabelle. Simply because some period of time has elapsed between the two events, and the quick edit in the RKO version implies these events followed one immediately after the other.

Gripe, gripe. I know. Sorry. Love the reconstruction anyway. Thanks truly.

[tony williams]

I really appreciate what Roger has done and use it in my classes to compare both versions. But there is a limit to what can be reconstructed from a hypoethetical perspectiive. Roger has come near to what can be termed a restoration and for this he deserves our heartfelt thanks.

[jbrooks]

Does someone have the means to send me a copy of this reconstrution on DVD or tape? It sounds like a fascinating experiment.

[Wilson]

I've never seen it either, so I'd appreciate it if someone could hook me up too.

[Gordon]

How can we offset the costs of duplication and distribution to obtain a copy?

Also,

Some day Time-Warner will get around to releasing an "official" copy of Ambersons on DVD.

There was a radio report recently on the reason why the 'Extras' included in most DVD releases are so mediocre. Most studios do not provide much budget for their production ergo the stream of conciousness blogs that pass for "commentary" tracks.

But Ambersons is different.

In addition to the Ryan Reconstruction, which I'm anxious to see, others such as Jaime Marzol, MTeal etc. have put a lot of time, effort and thought into the film.

Could Wellesnet collect audio commentaries from some of them for archival purposes? Then when the DVD is finally announced, they could be offered to T-W for inclusion.

[Knowles Noel Shane]

Well, this would seem to infer there are two versions ot there:

Roger did his Ambersons reconstruction about 12 years ago, so it's a completely different project from the one Jaime is working on. The narration Roger added at the end was not in the original film. He simply read excerpts from Tarkington's book that he thought were appropriate. I think they work quite beautifully, although it is a bit of a liberty.

Oddy enough, the two versions are so similar (judging from Jaime's incomplete versions from a year or two ago) that I thought they were the same, even down to the "Gilliamesque" cut-out animation. How about it Mr. Marz?

[jaime marzol]

i have watched half of roger's reco and it's pretty darn good.

mteal and me did 4 or 5 versions of it, then one day mteal took those 4 or 5 versions and made one version, which kicks butt. reduced me to tears while watching it. even though it's tough to watch. this version, which i call frankenstein 1, was assembled from 3rd and 5th generation copies, has snags in audio, etc., and it still works. it's a dandy map to use for a final reconstruction. i would like to take roger's version, and mteal's and my version, and make one good one.

the version noel shane saw was one of those 4 or 5 versions that was butchered into FRANKENSTEIN 1.

i can now take very high quality stills from analog sources, which i could not do when we did FRANKENSTEIN 1, so a FRANKENSTEIN 2 would look much better.

[jaime marzol]

i can suply some one some discs if they want to make a few copies for members then return the discs to me.

also i want to add, none of these attempts were ever aimed at anything other than having it for our private enjoyment. these discs are not available for a purchase price. the only way to get one is to know some one that will send you one.

[Roger Ryan]

Knowels - Thanks for your feedback on my "Ambersons" reconstruction attempt. You are correct that I did not follow the March, 1942 cutting continuity exactly as presented, but as I have mentioned before on this site, my intention was to create a version that would be watchable by a general audience. This does not mean that I think the 131 min. version of Ambersons (as detailed in the Carringer book) would be "unwatchable", but that my attempt to recreate it exactly would prove to be more academic than entertaining. For example, would inserting George's cut line about "people not bringing their elephants with them" really improve the scene after the ball, or would hearing this line voiced by someone imitating Tim Holt disrupt the scene unnecessarily? I didn't find the line to be significant enough to interrupt the flow of the scene with a "restoration" attempt.
There were other scenes (including George's fantasizing about Lucy) that I just didn't think I could pull off convincingly, so I didn't attempt them. I would have loved to include Gus Schilling's scene where he tells his poolhall cronies about Lucy fainting at the drugstore, but I didn't want to resort to using storyboards; I wanted all the visuals to be actual stills, freeze-frames or composites that might look like they were freeze-frames from the original film.
I was also hesitant to eliminate actual performances from the original actors even if the surviving footage was from a reshoot. Agnes Moorhead giving a toned down performance under Jack Moss' direction is still going to be better than my friend imitating Moorhead reading the original lines. I will say that I regret not recreating the scene where George confronts Isabel and she writes him a letter in response. Wise changed that scene quite a bit and the tone is way off from what Welles intended.
Finally, the choice to include two additional voice-over narrations near the end was simply my attempt to compensate for the lack of visual information Welles originally provided. I couldn't convincingly show Eugene leaving the factory, going to the hospital, then to the boarding house, so I came up with some narration to explain the action. In the same vein, while I'm sure the original final shot of Eugene being driven from the boarding house through the busy city streets looked fantastic, I didn't have it. So, I created an ending that I thought remained true to Welles' intentions while giving the "reconstruction" the sense of closure I felt it needed. If you're wondering, the "Eugene asked his driver to take him to City Hospital... and then to make one last stop in a darker, more solemn part of the city" line was purely my invention. Also, the lines concerning "Eugene's driver taking him up the same streets he had walked in his youth to his new home, now over eight miles north of the city" and Eugene's failure to recognize Amberson Boulevard were my inventions as well. The remaining narration from these segments came directly from Tarkington's book. Taking liberties? Very much so, but I wanted my reconstruction to serve the story in a way the released version didn't; to honor the "mood" Welles was originally going for. Again, I wanted it to be entertaining, not just an academic exercise (although there's nothing wrong with the academic approach either).
Once more, thanks so much to everyone for their responses and here's hoping that Warner Brothers will deliver a slam-bang official DVD version soon!

[jaime marzol]

yes, exactly the difference. due to the incredible lack of materials, roger tried to make something that was easy to watch. what me and mteal did is very difficult to watch, but truer to what welles intended. i liked both approaches very much.

you get some unsuspecting friends over. first you show them the release version amberson. then you show them roger's version. then you tie them up, douse them with espresso, and make them watch mteal's and my version. it would be a very rewarding evening.

[tony williams]

Yes, Roger did a good job. But we are all waiting for your version and hope it will become available sometime in the near future. I use Roger's version in my class for a reconstruction after running the theatrical release. So the more versions available the better.

[Glenn Anders]

The more the merrier in this amber glow, but I think Roger's version is superb, especially in terms of the visuals and his invention.

Glenn

[jbrooks]

jaime,

E-mail me. I would be glad to make copies (for myself and others) -- assuming roger approves.

JBrooks.

[jaime marzol]

i have 2 discs i will send you. i don't feel comfortable sending roger's, but will send you my Frankenstein 1, and an added bonus track!

[Roger Ryan]

Jaime - I have no problem with you submitting my version of "Ambersons" to whomever would like to see it. Being something of a stickler for visual quality, I'm not thrilled to have second, third, or fourth generation dubs/discs out there, but the fact is I don't have the time or resources right now to prepare any new copies from the master. Perhaps if someone who has a first generation VHS copy wishes to share it, that would be great. Like yourself and Mteal, I simply wanted to create a version that I would enjoy watching myself and I'm happy to share it with those who have an interest. The problem is...I'm all out of copies to send out!