The Magnificent Ambersons
Stanley Cortez, ASCThe late, great Stanley Cortez often said that light was "an incredible thing that can't be described," and that every day he learned something new about it. He further maintained that "only two of all the directors I've worked with understood it: Orson Welles and Charles Laughton." For Welles's The Magnificent Ambersons and Laughton's The Night of the Hunter, Cortez used light and shadow to create enough perfect black-and-white images to fill an art gallery.
Cortez had gone to New York to shoot tests for David O. Selznick when Welles asked to borrow him for Ambersons, which was about to start at RKO. Welles had seen some of Cortez's work in Universal mystery films, especially the 1941 comedy-mystery The Black Cat (not to be confused with the earlier 1934 chiller of the same title), and wanted a somewhat similar look for Ambersons. Cortez arrived in Hollywood on Monday and shot the first scene the next morning, with no preparation. Based on a Booth Tarkington story, the picture takes place in the early part of this century, and relates the tale of an American family that is unable to change with the times. It has authentic costumes and magnificent settings designed by Mark Lee Kirk, featuring many snow scenes and old-fashioned buildings.
Three interior floors of the Amberson home, filled with gingerbread woodwork, fancy wallpaper, heavy furniture and a massive staircase, were built on Stage 3 at RKO's Hollywood studio. Cortez recalled that when he'd seen the set before he went to New York, he said to himself, "I pity the poor bastard who has to photograph this damned thing!" Snow scenes involving a sleigh ride were set up in the big ice plant in downtown Los Angeles, a site where Columbia had filmed much of Lost Horizon and The Man With Nine Lives. Street scenes and other exteriors were made at RKO-Pathé in Culver City.
Welles and Cortez struck up a good rapport, but Welles later became increasingly impatient with Cortez's perfectionistic approach to lighting. The cameraman was quoted as saying, "When you're doing a picture with Orson Welles, Orson runs the show, and if he doesn't, his voice does." However, the extra effort paid off in artistic compositions, rich blacks and scenes of remarkable depth. Welles was still producing and acting in his Mercury Theatre radio dramas, and sometimes was unable to be on the set. On these occasions he left recorded directions for Cortez and editor Robert Wise, who would film the scenes without him.
The 10-day shoot in the ice house made it possible to use real snow and show the frosty breath of the actors, but it was tough going. In their attempts to stay warm, the crew wore fur-lined leather coveralls and sipped brandy. Arc lights were used to create a sunlit effect on the snow, and the cold caused incandescents to burst at unexpected moments. At one point, actor Ray Collins was sidelined with pnuemonia.
Because RKO was committed to furnishing double-bill programs, a new studio chief decreed that no feature could be longer than 7,500 feet. Cortez was horrified when many of his favorite scenes from Ambersons were chopped out. Even in its truncated state, the picture stands as one of the finest examples of black-and-white cinematography ever to grace the screen.
—G.T.
© 1999 ASC