Talk:The Magnificent Ambersons

Untitled
I'd dispute the statement that minimizes Tarkington's work (and makes it seem like Welles' accomplishment). While it's indisputable that Welles was among the best at adapting works to the screen, he sticks very closely to the book. The book is brilliant. The film's brilliance is severely impacted by the butchering edits, especially in the second half.

Buddenbrooks
I've always thought that this story (which of course I know through the Orson Welles film, not the long-forgotten source novel) contains more than a few echoes of Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks (1901), also the story of how a family (haute bourgeois in their case) goes from dominance to near destitution, including loss of the family mansion, over the course of a generation or two.

Is there any evidence that Tarkington was influenced by the older story? Surely worth mentioning if there is, or if published critics have made such a comparison.Paulturtle (talk) 00:56, 19 September 2018 (UTC)