Turner Classic Movies is now sponsoring documentarian and Ambersons footage truther Joshua Grossberg to go to Brazil, where he believes Welles’ version is hiding, and return with the holy grail of cinema. A substantial group of optimists believe that the footage is still out there, though.

RKO didn’t just eliminate those 43 minutes-they destroyed them, allegedly melting them down so that the nitrate could be used in the war. On the striking revision, Welles said, “They destroyed Ambersons and they destroyed me.” When the director showed up to RKO Pictures with a dense 131-minute cut, the studio proceeded to excise 43 minutes and reshot the ending to be more uplifting. But what might have been Welles’ true masterpiece never quite ended up seeing the light of day. It follows a once-affluent Midwestern family living in the second industrial revolution of the 1870s, who are on the brink of financial ruin and obsoletion. Coming off the critical success of Citizen Kane-a film that, despite not initially doing well at the box office, is now universally heralded as a masterpiece-he chose to adapt The Magnificent Ambersons.

Other first edition points for books by Booth Tarkington include: Alice Adams.In 1942, Orson Welles made the greatest film that never existed. Picture of the front dust jacket flap for the first edition of The Magnificent Ambersons. Photo courtesy of James Cahill/Rare Books, Inc. Picture of the title page for The Magnificent Ambersons. Picture of the back dust jacket flap for the first edition of The Magnificent Ambersons.

Picture of the first edition Doubleday Page boards for The Magnificent Ambersons. Picture of the back dust jacket for the first edition of The Magnificent Ambersons. Picture of dust jacket where original $1.40 price is found for The Magnificent Ambersons. Picture of the copyright page for The Magnificent Ambersons. Picture of the 1918 first edition dust jacket for The Magnificent Ambersons. The Magnificent Ambersons won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. On later issue jackets, that price was blotted out by the publisher, and $1.50 was written below it. The price on the first issue jacket was $1.40. Dust jacket is extremely rare and adds most of the value to the book. Title page and copyright page should both say 1918 with no other statement of printings. Pages: 516 Rust red boards stamped in black. First Edition Points and Criteria for The Magnificent Ambersons

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