The Magnificent Ambersons Are The Centerpiece of A Well-Done Orson Welles Directorial Effort

For any director, doing a follow-up directorial project to a particularly acclaimed piece of work is a daunting prospect, one that some filmmakers have exceled in (like Marielle Heller) while other filmmakers (like Dan Gilroy) found more mixed results in the same scenario. For Orson Welles, this was a particularly tricky scenario for him back in the early 1940's as he was preparing his directorial follow-up to a little-known movie called Citizen Kane. Though plagued by controversy in its initial release, Citizen Kane was still garnering acclaim and had set the bar high for whatever he did next, which turned out to be a motion picture adaptation of The Magnificent Ambersons.

There Be Gold Them Thar Movies Like The Treasure of The Sierra Madre

On its surface, The Treasure of The Sierra Madre would seem to have an overly simple theme driving its story, specifically the idea that greed can change a man for the worse. But in executing this idea within this specific story with this group of actors, writers, directors and assorted crew members, The Treasure of The Sierra Madre instead ends up being something quite exceptional and thoughtful. Just as there be gold in that there mountains, there's also depth to be excavated from this storyline that reveals itself to have greater complexity stemming from a gradually occuring character arc for its protagonist that's fascinating to watch unfold.