The Magnificent Ambersons

It's always impossible to follow up the project many call your best work. (Why else do you think Harper Lee never wrote anything else after To Kill a Mockingbird?) It must be a daunting task for anyone.

Although Citizen Kane wasn't the essential film back in 1941 as it is today, it still made Orson Welles a maverick in Hollywood albeit a very controversial one. How on earth would Welles follow up his veiled attack on William Randolph Hearst?

How about The Magnificent Ambersons, a film about the shift in society? Even though it got altered without Welles' consent, the film is a stark portrait of changing times and constricted morals. And like Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons is a film that was quite ahead of its time.

Also like Welles' previous film, the way The Magnificent Ambersons was shot is stunning. Much like what Gregg Toland did with Citizen Kane, Stanley Cortez frames The Magnificent Ambersons gorgeously. (Take note, Tom Hooper. This is how you frame a film.)

The Magnificent Ambersons is a very well done film. The actors, particularly Tim Holt and Agnes Moorehead, are great. In my eyes, this is Welles' best film as a director. (I'm sure there are other people out there that agree with me.)

My Rating: *****

Touch of Evil

Throughout the 1940's and the 1950's, film noirs were among the most the most popular movie genres. The dark nature of them appealed audiences, though their popularity declined once the 1950's were over. Touch of Evil is considered the last great film noir.

On their honeymoon, police officer Miguel "Mike" Vargas (Charlton Heston) and his wife Susan (Janet Leigh) witness a car exploding. Mike is joined by Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles) to investigate, but Mike discovers that Hank isn't the respected officer everyone claims he is.

Boy, this is edgier than most film noirs I've seen. Yes, the casting of Heston as a Mexican is laughable but you gotta admit he gave a good performance. Welles and Leigh also gave good performances. This contains material not normally found in film noirs at the time: corruption, drugs and sex. I can see why it's considered one of the last great film noirs.

My Rating: *****

The Lady from Shanghai

A common casting idea is to cast real-life couples as spouses or lovers (ie, Eliazbeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward). But when former couples are reunited for the silver screen, it's pretty much make or break.

Micharl O'Hara (Orson Welles), against his better judgement, hires on as a crew member of Arthur Bannister's (Everett Sloane) yacht, sailing to San Francisco. They pick up Grisby (Glenn Anders), Bannister's law partner, en route. Bannister has a wife, Elsa (Rita Hayworth), who seems to like Michael much better than she likes her husband. After they dock in Sausalito, Michael goes along with Grisby's weird plan to fake Grisby's murder so he can disappear untailed. Michael wants the $5000 Grisby has offered, so he can run off with Elsa. But Grisby turns up actually murdered, and Michael gets blamed for it. Somebody set him up, but it is not clear who or how.

The romance between Welles and Hayworth would've been a lot more believable had this been made before they got divorced. The movie itself was good, while the famed hall of mirrors scene managed to stand the test of time.

My Rating: *****

Citizen Kane

Twenty-nine years ago today, famed movie director Orson Welles died of a heart attack just hours after his final interview. He was 80. In honor of his talent I've decided to review two of Welles' best-known works today, starting with his directorial debut Citizen Kane.

Newspaper mogul Charles Foster Kane (Welles) dies after uttering "Rosebud". The news of his death causes a media frenzy, particularly over his final word. Reporter Jerry Thompson (William Alland) tries to find out about Kane's life and the meaning of his last word. Flashbacks show Kane's childhood, his rise in the newspaper business, his failed marriages and his descent in life.

This movie is considered "the greatest movie ever made", and in some ways I sort of agree with the claim. I mean, the movie's good but I think all of the hype surrounding it kills the movie.

My Rating: *****