The Magnificent Ambersons

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) — watch online on iFILM. Directed by Orson Welles immediately after Citizen Kane, this American drama earned four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. The cast features Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, and Tim Holt.

For generations the Amberson family has been the first name in a quiet Midwestern town — landowners who expected deference as their birthright. George Amberson, the pampered grandson, sees no reason that should ever change. But automobiles are filling the streets, inherited fortunes are losing their grip, and self-made men like inventor Eugene Morgan are quietly overtaking the old guard. When George's widowed mother turns to Morgan for companionship, George blocks the match — a decision that costs both of them everything they had left.

Welles adapted Booth Tarkington's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of 1918. RKO cut roughly fifty minutes from his original cut without his involvement, and that footage has been considered lost ever since. Agnes Moorehead received a separate Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Stream The Magnificent Ambersons online on iFILM.