Welles Trailers

[Ste]

Do you know if Welles directed it?

Given that all the footage is taken directly from Chimes, I think it's a safe bet to say he directed it! What you are asking -- correct me if I'm wrong -- is whether Welles edited the trailer himself, or had a creative hand in its construction. My guess is yes, he did, although we may never know for sure.

The Hollywood trailers -- other than Kane -- are a slightly different matter, I think. I can't imagine Welles having a creative hand, say, in the Ambersons trailer, given that he had little or no power over the editing of the film itself. The snippet of the boarding house scene that still exists in the trailer is probably just a hangover from the confused editing process. (Anyone here who is a fan of Sam Peckinpah can see similarly unique outtakes in the trailer for Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, a film that -- like Ambersons -- was wrestled from the director's hands in the early stages of editing.)

[Roger Ryan]

I think he looks really lecherous in this video!
But it does seem his style of directing.

Last October when the Italian commercial subject first came up I posted that "the blocking and lighting are definitely in the Welles' style, but the cuts on the trucking camera are pretty amateurish which makes me think someone else edited the footage." I guess I still feel that way, but that almost "rough cut" feel to the editing does resemble the look of the Welles' "Around The World" episodes that were left in an incomplete state.

The snippet of the boarding house scene that still exists in the trailer is probably just a hangover from the confused editing process.

Most trailers are cut prior to the final edit being done on the film they intend to promote, which is why they often use temporary music tracks and will sometimes include footage not seen in the released film. The "Ambersons" trailer only uses footage shot prior to March, 1942 (including a couple of alternate shots that probably weren't even used in the initial 131 min. edit), so my guess is the studio had it put together in late February or early March of '42 with the idea of using it to promote the proposed Easter week release of the film. Given the tone of the trailer and its misinformation (Fanny mistakenly referred to as "Isabel's sister" and Jack inexplicably called "the black sheep" of the family), I would agree that Welles had nothing to do with its production.

[Tony]

It seems to me that in the Ambersons trailer there is a brief shot of George leaving his mother's room in a snit, and she's sitting down looking upset. Isn't this the ending of the original letter scene, the latter which was reshot to soften George's nastiness, and which ends with Isabel stroking George's head saying softly "He'll understand"?

I can't remember as I haven't scene it in a while, but George sure leaves with some serious attitude in the trailer.

[Roger Ryan]

Yes, the bedroom snippet shown in the trailer would have been from the original shooting. There's also an extreme low angle wide shot of Eugene leaving the Amberson mansion in a bowler hat (from the original footage of him being asked to leave by Fanny) as well as a brief moment showing Fanny, Jack, Eugene and Isabel walking together during the last ball (deleted from the released version). Most tantalizing, however, is the boarding house shots; a few brief frames of movement that reveal plenty about Fanny's disposition during the scene.

[Tony]

I agree, Roger: just that second and a half of the boarding room scene, with Fanny's attitude and what I believe is Eugene's shadow as he crosses in front of her out of camera range (I think this is described in the cutting continuity) reveals a dark, haunting, painful scene, just as is obvious from the cc and from Welles's description. As Welles said to PB: " I wish it still existed".

As for trailers, there is an article at Senses of Cinema on them:

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/00/9/trailers.html

And here, again, is Welles's trailer for Kane (can you imagine the one he would have made for Ambersons?):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyv19bg0scg

[Skylark]

That Italian commercial actually has some similarities with the Kane trailer - with the behind the scenes look - something he also did in that Ghost Story short with MacLiammor - a little rough, but I think he does manage to sneak in a fair bit of Wellesisms' for a 90-second commercial.

http://skylark-.blogspot.com