Touch of Evil – 50th
Anniversary DVD Edition (Universal DVD)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: A
Film:
Preview
Version: A-
Theatrical
Version: B+
Restored
Version: A
When
people talk about the brilliance of Orson Welles they often forget about one of
his most amazing accomplishments – 1958’s Touch
of Evil. This film is often
overshadowed by the likes of Citizen
Kane or The Third Man, but Touch of Evil remains controversial
even to this day whether or not the final product is the final cut that Orson
Welles had envisioned.
The film
was originally given a 96-minute ‘theatrical cut’, which was the only version
available until 1976 when a 109-minute ‘preview print’ of the film was
discovered at Universal Studios and was issued as a replacement to that
previous ‘theatrical cut’. This cut did
in fact include material that Welles wanted the public to see, but was still
not complete. Then in 1998 an even
longer 111-minute version was issued, which combined elements from the previous
two versions along with certain suggestions that Welles made in a memo written
to Universal in 1957. That lengthy and
detailed memo has never been published in it’s entirety until now as it is
included with this 50th Anniversary DVD edition.
Welles’
memo includes many of the changes that he deemed valuable after he viewed the
‘rough cut’ of the film shortly before the film was finalized for its
theatrical release. That ‘rough’ cut
would have been similar to the ‘preview print’, but it’s evident from reading
the entire memo that there are even more changes that Welles would have liked
to make, but was forced to change or not include. Not only does the memo includes these
valuable changes, but also cites much of Welles’ artistic vision for the film
and rationalization for such.
Touch of Evil is highly influential in just
about any version, it was viewed in 1958 at the Brussels World Fair, where
judged Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard gave the film the top award, it
would also inspire both filmmakers to begin their career and interestingly
enough one year later they would both release their debut films, which are now
classics: The 400 Blows and Breathless. Just the first 3-minutes of the film alone
have become standard material in just about any serious film class as it
demonstrates the use of the tracking shot as we see a serious of events take
place with the camera tracking, panning, and floating through the scene with
ease. Not only is the film innovating
and ingenious, but it also remains one of the last truly great Film Noirs.
The film
stars some interesting choices as well with Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh as
the films leads, Welles also stars in the film as well as his RKO buddy Joseph
Cotton and gives special billing to Zsa Zsa Gabor and Marlene Dietrich, who
play minor, but important roles. At the
films core it’s complex, complicated, and combines all the necessary elements
of classic Noir, but on the surface comes across like a near melodrama and
petty crime drama, which is simply the brilliant capability of Welles to direct
material that can seem both simple and complicated at the same time.
For this
release Universal has complied all three versions of the film in this 2-disc
release, which also features a lengthy amount of extras as well as the never-before-published
memo in its entirety. The film is
presented in a 1.85 X 1 anamorphic transfer that demonstrates a great use of
Black & White photography captured by Russell Metty. The film in previous home video never looked
as sharp as it should and lacked a wide-range of grayscale, but all three of
these versions seem to be restored and look far superior in all aspects. The ‘restored’ version, which was re-edited
in 1998 looks consistent throughout even with the added footage, it is also the
superior version of the film to see, but having the other two versions for
comparison is always a great addition.
All three versions include a Dolby Digital 2.0 mono mix that is adequate
and also seem a bit restored, but are limited with overall fidelity due to the
age and nature of the original prints.
There is
a huge wealth of extras starting with a retrospective documentary that includes
interviews with Leigh and Heston as well as film historians and other
crewmembers that emphasize the impact of the film. There is also a behind-the-scenes program on
the restoration of the film and in-depth explanations on the three
versions. Each version of the film
includes commentary; the ‘preview’ version includes commentary by Heston,
Leigh, and restoration producer Rick Schmidlini. The ‘restored’ version includes commentary by
Rick Schmidlini and the ‘theatrical’ version has a commentary track by F.X.
Feeney. Historians Jonathan Rosenbaum and
James Naremore also provide a second commentary track on the ‘preview’ version.
Touch of Evil is a film worthy of discovery in
any version; Universal knows the value behind this film and by making all three
versions available along with Welles’ memo only demonstrate their dedication to
keeping this film alive. While it’s worthy
to debate what version is the most ‘complete’ or whether or not Welles’ final
vision was realized or not, the film still stands the test of time as a true
classic and one of the greatest cinematic achievements, which will continue to
endure. Until the Blu-ray version of the
film arrives, this is the way to own it for now!
- Nate Goss
