--- title: "The Magnificent Ambersons: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-magnificent-ambersons/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-magnificent-ambersons" critics_score: 86 critics_reviews: 14 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Magnificent Ambersons (1942): what the critics said Critics' score 86 from 14 reviews: 14 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. ## The Times — Kevin Maher Rating ★★★★★. 13 December 2019. The review calls it exquisite film-making with frames to die for and deft handling of the story about a rich snob's comeuppance, highlighted by top performances especially from Agnes Moorehead. It is an outright classic, though not quite on the level of Citizen Kane, despite the studio cuts. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/the-magnificent-ambersons-1942-review-exquisite-film-making-lpgp2xnkd) ## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 29 November 2018. The film remains one of the great ravaged masterpieces of American cinema. It singles out the visual language of deep-focus tracking shots and rich expressionist shadows, along with the ensemble acting, for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-critics-choice-20181129-story.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Jim Emerson Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 14 December 2012. The film is a memory-movie masterpiece that goes deeper into its characters than Citizen Kane. It singles out Agnes Moorehead's towering performance as Aunt Fanny for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/scanners/the-magnificent-ambersons-whats-past-is-prologue) ## Slant Magazine — Chuck Bowen Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 15 December 2018. The critic calls the film a tragic masterpiece and a classic whose limitations from studio interference enhance its themes of decline and artistic struggle. He singles out the deep-focus compositions, flowing tracking shots, and Agnes Moorehead's subtle, heartbreaking performance for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/the-magnificent-ambersons/) ## The Independent — David Thomson Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 14 December 1997. The critic argues that the surviving 88-minute version remains arguably the most moving American film ever made, a heartbreakingly beautiful work about loss, manners, and the downfall of privilege despite studio mutilation. He singles out the extended takes, moving camera work, decor, and performances, especially Agnes Moorehead's, for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-greatness-lies-in-what-is-lost-1288784.html) ## The Telegraph Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 18 April 2021. The piece argues Ambersons is Welles's true masterpiece, a thoughtful epic about American wealth, social change and the advent of the motor car, with a spiritually dark tone and brilliant execution marred only by studio interference that cut 40 minutes and altered the ending. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/citizen-kane-overrated-orson-welles-classic-isnt/) ## Time Out — GA Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 18 May 2012. Despite being hacked about by RKO, the film remains a masterpiece for its magical re-creation of a gentler pre-industrial age and the Ambersons' mansion life. Welles offers an ambivalent view of social change under the new industrial age, with strong community elements alongside snobbery, delivered through immaculate period detail and virtuoso long-take acting. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-magnificent-ambersons) ## The AV Club — Ignatiy Vishnevetsky Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 21 March 2017. The critic describes the film as still masterly and the benchmark for stories of family decline, noting its wit, emotional sincerity, and innovative use of nostalgia and memory. He highlights Welles's bold experimentation with long takes and darkness, as well as strong performances, particularly by Joseph Cotten and Agnes Moorehead. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/75-years-later-orson-welles-troubled-follow-up-to-cit-1798259320) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 July 2022. The critic sees the film as a powerful exploration of class struggle and the transition from gentry to industrial bourgeoisie in early 20th-century America, with strong socialist undertones and innovative visual storytelling. Despite studio butchering and a tacked-on ending, it remains a fascinating and funereal work that foreshadows later Welles films. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jul/10/the-magnificent-ambersons-at-80-orson-welles) ## The New Yorker — Pauline Kael Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). The film has greater depth than Citizen Kane and features great sequences of intense family squabbles. It singles out Agnes Moorehead's uncannily powerful performance as the hysterical-spinster aunt for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/magnificent-ambersons) ## Empire — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic finds that the released version still contains enough vintage Welles magic to endure as an unfinished American classic of change, longing and loss, with its grace, cinematography and performances marking a superior achievement even when mutilated. He singles out the glittering ball, snow party outing and encounters with love and death in the mansion as dazzling highlights. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/magnificent-ambersons-review/) ## Film Comment — Michael Koresky Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 May 2019. The critic explores the film's use of the word 'queer' as a lens for its themes of resistance to change, social othering, and comeuppance. Welles's butchered masterpiece is praised for its spectacular realization and pitiless portrayal of privilege and decline despite studio interference. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/queer-now-then-1942/) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating A-. 6 May 2015. The critic finds the surviving version of this RKO-mutilated follow-up to Citizen Kane still great despite heavy cuts and a compromised ending. They single out the early Christmas ball sequence as an astonishing piece of filmmaking and praise its accomplished, dark, and ensemble-driven take on American privilege. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/essential-films-orson-welles-retrospective-directorial-career-20150506/) ## Collider — Colin Wessman Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 10 July 2022. The critic argues that even the heavily edited 88-minute version remains a great film on par with Citizen Kane, full of visual wonders and personal resonance despite studio meddling. They single out the charming first half, the ball sequence, and the novelistic attention to detail for particular praise. [Read the review](https://collider.com/magnificent-ambersons-on-par-citizen-kane/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-magnificent-ambersons.md