#and then RKO proceeded to. lose money on most pictures. forever.

[shodansbabygirl]

According to Richard B. Jewell in RKO: rise of a titan, fuckin, the reason Orson Welles second RKO film (the magnificent ambersons) was so bad, was not because of studio meddling in the edit. He was given full edit rights on his first Two contracted RKO films (and despite some other fallen through projects Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons were his first two edited and distributed films). It was bad because he was telegramming and phoning his edits to his editor in California, from Brazil in 1941-2. Because he was in Brazil to film It's All True, a film that originally was not going to be filmed in Brazil but then Nelson Rockefeller (working for the Office of Inter-American Affairs, also large stockholder in RKO) encouraged RKO to relocate the film to Brazil, meaning Orson Welles went to Brazil immediately following the shooting of but prior to the Cutting of The magnificent ambersons.

So technically Teddy Roosevelt's establishment of the office of Inter-American affairs (or more specifically the appointment of a Rockefeller into it) made The Magnificent Ambersons a bad movie, that was still editorially controlled by Welles just like Citizen Kane was.

#i have no investment in mr welles or his work i just think thats neat snd the wiality between the two varies so wildly most people assume #there was studio interference. and i did before now. #but no. shareholder workong for the government interference. #which a shareholder is far different from the studio itself Rockefeller never worked for rko or within its structure #just owned a lot because of a 7 year long receivership #after rko agreed to pay for rockefeller center offices. and also uh radio city music hall. and the RKO Roxy (demolished) in the rfc. #like at the outset of the Rockefeller center's construction they agreed to that #and then RKO proceeded to. lose money on most pictures. forever.