Blu Ray Review: Touch of Evil (1958)

Orson Welles would notoriously suffer from anti-creative studio heads tampering with his material. There are plenty of stories surrounding the re-cutting of The Magnificent Ambersons, for instance, that disrupted the filmmaker’s vision. In the case of Touch of Evil, there are three existing versions of the film, and all have been released in the new 4K format, and on blu ray, from Kino Lorber.

As the story goes, Universal had bought the rights to Whit Masterson’s book Badge of Evil. Producer Albert Zugsmith was then assigned to the project. Zugsmith had produced Douglas Sirk’s Written on The Wind (1956), as well as The Square Jungle (1955) and Female on the Beach (1955) for the studio. Once the film was shot, Welles began on the editing with Virgil Vogel, but then went to New York for a TV appearance. When he returned, he discovered Aaron Stell was finishing the editing and was to do so without interruption. Welles began shooting his next project, Don Quixote (which he never completed) in Mexico City. After Stell became frustrated with the project, Universal post-production head Ernest Nims began re-editing the film. Welles was screened the resulting film and agreed to compromise if some changes were made closer to his vision. While Orson Welles was in Louisana filming The Long Hot Summer, Universal arranged for some new scenes to be shot for Touch of Evil under the supervision of editor Harry Keller. The film’s stars, Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh, both refused out of respect for Welles, but had a contractual obligation. Welles was shown the film, and offered 58 pages of changes he wanted made. After a bad sneak preview, Universal removed about 13 minutes of footage and quietly released it in a double-feature, where it received little attention from American audiences (doing better in Europe where it won awards at some festivals).

For years Touch of Evil was only represented by a 96-minute re-edit of Orson Welles original vision. Then in 1976, the 108-minute sneak preview cut was discovered in the Universal vaults. Finally, in 1998, the film was re-edited to 111 minutes based on Orson Welles’ 58 pages of notes and this reconstruction can be considered the closest to Welles own vision.

Kino Lorber’s 4K and bluray releases are a three-disc set, containing the theatrical release, the sneak preview cut, and the reconstructed version. Most believe the reconstructed version is the quintessential example, while there are some who believe the studio interference actually did improve the film. In any case, having all three versions in this set gives a definitive look at the film from all perspectives. The 4K image, even when brought down to 1080p for bluray, look better than any other video release of the film. The sharpness allows us to truly appreciate the filmmaker’s visual brilliance, as each scene is perfectly shot and framed to enhance the often frustrating dramatic narrative. Performances by Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Marlene Dietrich, Akim Tamiroff, Dennis Weaver, Joseph Calleia, Ray Collins, and Welles himself are all somewhere near each actor’s best work.

Special Features include:

On Disc 1

The Theatrical Cut

Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas

Audio Commentary with Writer/Filmmaker F.X. Feeney

On Disc 2

The Reconstructed Cut

Audio Commentary by Film Historian Imogen Sara Smith

Audio Commentary by Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh and Reconstruction Producer Rick Schmidlin

Featurette: Evil Lost and Found

On Disc 3

The sneak preview cut

Audio Commentary with Orson Welles Historians Jonathan Rosenbaum and James Naremore

Featurette: Bringing Evil to Life

This is one of the most important releases so far this year, and is most strongly recommended to libraries, research centers, film students, and general fans of cinema. It belongs in everyone’s collection.

The 3 disc set can be purchased at this link: EVIL