Comments on: Better Than Kane? http://www.classicfilmpreview.com/better-than-kane/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=better-than-kane so many movies, so little time Sun, 05 Jun 2011 17:02:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jim http://www.classicfilmpreview.com/better-than-kane/comment-page-1/#comment-4 Jim Wed, 30 Nov 2005 20:03:47 +0000 http://www.classicfilmpreview.com/?p=47#comment-4 “The Magnificent Ambersons” is my choice for the greatest Hollywood sound film. The extraordinary long takes, deep focus and elaborate tracking shots, the acting by the Mercury Players, Bernard Herrmann’s music, the sound mix and set design, and Welles’s wonderful voiceover combine to make this the most profoundly moving film ever about decline, loss and regret. We’ll never see the complete preview version, but what remains is so good that the tacked-on happy ending is easily overlooked. Not to be missed by anyone who loves film. “The Magnificent Ambersons” is my choice for the greatest Hollywood sound film. The extraordinary long takes, deep focus and elaborate tracking shots, the acting by the Mercury Players, Bernard Herrmann’s music, the sound mix and set design, and Welles’s wonderful voiceover combine to make this the most profoundly moving film ever about decline, loss and regret.

We’ll never see the complete preview version, but what remains is so good that the tacked-on happy ending is easily overlooked. Not to be missed by anyone who loves film.

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