At the time the 132 minute
workprint of Ambersons was screened for a test audience, Welles was down in South America on some bizarro expedition making a documentary for Uncle Sam without any sort of directive on what he was supposed to do; it ended up never seeing the light of day. The response to that uncut print and the apocalyptic collapse of the South American sojourn dogged his career for decades.
I still disagree, I was completely satisfied by Chimes at Midnight. Maybe you were so overwhelmed by the depiction of the Battle of Shrewsbury you were unable to process the rest of the film?
Ladies and Gentlemen, Capt. Cravat himself:
The Cat's Meow was a return to form.