And if that weren't enough: Interesting claims about the lost hour of "The Magnificent Ambersons"

TCM.com (Turner Classic Movies)--An interesting couple of comments have been posted by an individual going under the name "Roberto" on TCM's page for Ambersons. "Roberto" is claiming that Warner Brothers has the complete print with the missing-footage, presumably making it Orson Welles's 1942 workprint he had flown down to Rio while he was filming "It's All True" for RKO and the State Department. Again, a long-shot, but who knows at this stage?

roberto

Date: 05/24/2008

Amberson film

Ambersons film sent to Welles at his hotel the Copacabana Palace. Film did not leave Brazil after that due to customs problems. Adhemar Gonzaga did not destroy fil[m] as directed[,] unclear why. So film ends up back at the Palace. Hotel finds film cans after the war and for whatever reason sends film to the Cinemateca. Sometime between 1946 and 1976(?) film probably in unauthorized private hands beacause if still at Cinemateca it would have burned in 1957 fires. It ends up at the São Paulo Cinemateque in 1976(?), cans labeled correctly but ignored by over-worked local perservation [sp.] staff which assumed it was regular print of film. In 2006 their archivist contacted Warner about film cans which turned out ot be complete print in poor but salvagable [sp.] condition. Film flown to US once Warner gets o.k. from Brazilan court. And: roberto Date: 05/13/2008 DVD in 2008/09. Warner will be releasing the 131 minute restored version of Ambersons in late 2008 or early 2009. A complete print was located in a Brazilian film archive. The print is undergoing the 4k restoration process. (http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=683&atid=27328&category=User%20Reviews ) Whoever wrote these posts either has a sick sense of humor, or they might actually be telling the truth. We'll see, though it's doubtful they're telling the truth. I'll believe it when I see it.