8.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
After a murder is committed in a small town right on the US-Mexico border a rogue cop from the US tries to frame his Mexican counterpart for it.
Starring: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Joanna Moore (III)Film-Noir | 100% |
Psychological thriller | 72% |
Crime | 23% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Some films draw strength from their flaws. Orson Welles's last film as a Hollywood director, the pulp thriller Touch of Evil, was a flop when Universal first released it in 1958, and even Welles's most devoted fans had to admit that much was wrong with the picture. But word quickly spread that Welles had not been allowed to finish Touch of Evil as he wanted, that Universal had taken it out of his hands, shot additional scenes, and re-edited major sequences. Just another tale of a brilliant artist's vision ruined by a heartless studio. But the real story isn't so simple or straightforward. Touch of Evil was hardly a passion project for Welles. Originally titled Badge of Evil after the novel by Whit Masterson, the production was initially intended as a straightforward crime film. Welles was cast as the villain, and the studio used his participation to lure Charlton Heston to play the hero. It was Heston who suggested that Welles direct, and Welles, eager to show a major studio that he still "had it", took the job as a director-for-hire. But being Orson Welles, he couldn't help but transform a genre film into something more substantial. He rewrote much of the script and reconceived the entire movie, even though he wasn't being paid for it. But after bringing in the film on time and within budget, Welles made a critical mistake. He left during post-production and went to Mexico to develop one of his own projects. Even Heston, who staunchly defended his choice of director to the end, conceded that Welles's timing was disastrous. The studio liked what they saw in dailies, but no one except Welles understood how it all fit together. In his absence, they made what they could out of his footage and shot new scenes where they thought them necessary, some of which Welles liked when he saw them. Overall, though, when the director finally resurfaced in December 1957, he was appalled by what Universal screened for him. He immediately went home and wrote a now-famous 58-page memo pleading with the studio to make various changes. But it was too late. The studio wanted to be done with Touch of Evil, and the film was released in its 95-minute Theatrical Version on April 23, 1958. In the mid-1970s, Universal discovered an alternate version of Touch of Evil in the archives. At 108 minutes, this Preview Version post-dated Welles's memo and included more of his original footage, but it did not reflect most of his suggestions. Nevertheless, Universal released it to theaters (and later to home video) as "complete, uncut and restored". In fact, there never has been and never will be such a version of the film, because Welles himself was never allowed to finish it. But in the late 1990s, producer and passionate Touch of Evil fan Rick Schmidlin persuaded Universal to fund a "reconstruction" of the film along the lines of Welles's 58-page memo. Meticulously assembled by Oscar-winning editor Walter Murch, this Reconstructed Version appeared in theaters and on DVD in 1998, and prompted a complete re-evaluation of Touch of Evil by scholars and film fans. Touch of Evil was previously released on Blu-ray in a region B-locked special edition as part of the "Masters of Cinema" series from Eureka Entertainment. That edition contained five versions: the Theatrical and Reconstructed Versions in both 1.85:1 and 1.37:1, plus the Preview Version in 1.85:1. Universal is now issuing the film in region A with 1.85:1 presentation of the three versions and the same on-disc extras.
Unlike the Masters of Cinema edition released in November 2011, Universal's release of Touch of Evil arrives without any notes providing technical details about the transfer. Since I do not have either the MOC version or a region-free player, no attempt has been made to compare the two presentations. However, the three versions—Theatrical, Preview and Reconstructed—are presented via seamless branching, which at least suggests that new scans and remastering have been performed on all three versions. Certainly there is no obvious difference in quality that immediately distinguishes one version from another, although certain key footage that exists only in the Preview and Reconstructed Versions has faint vertical scratches that were apparently beyond repair. (They are primarily in the sequence showing how Susan Vargas gets to the motel where she is assaulted.) In general, however, the image on Universal's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is a knockout. The detail is superb, the blacks are gorgeously deep, and the interplay of light and shadow that is so critical to cinematographer Russell Metty's compositions is reproduced with precision, as are the shadings of gray that support Welles's trademark use of deep focus photography. In the climactic (and very dark) sequence where Vargas tails Quinlan, whom he hopes to trap into a confession, layers of detail are revealed in the derelict surroundings that I have never seen in any previous home video presentation. Minutia such as the decor in the apartment of Quinlan's chief suspect (where Welles staged an uninterrupted shot that lasted over thirteen minutes) remain clearly visible, as do the characters entering and exiting the frame. In a pleasant departure from Universal's common practice of using ditigal processing to confer a video appearance on its catalog titles, Touch of Evil looks like film. A fine grain pattern is visible, and the image does not bear obvious indications of high frequency filtering, artificial sharpening or other untoward manipulation. (Note: Screencaps 1-27 are all taken from the Reconstructed Version, although many of these frames also appear in one or both of the other two versions. Screencaps 28-31 are specific to either or both the Theatrical and/or the Preview Versions.)
Touch of Evil was released in mono, which is reproduced on Blu-ray in two-channel lossless DTS-HD MA. But there are significant differences between the mixes for the Reconstructed Version and the other two. Welles had intended his entire opening sequence leading up to the murders to be accompanied by environmental sounds, including source music heard from car radios and nightspots, which would rise and fall as Mike and Susan Vargas walk through the streets toward the border checkpoint. Universal opted instead to score the sequence traditionally with a cue that Henry Mancini had written for the soundtrack, which is also heard later in the film. It's an excellent cue, and some fans (such as commentator F.X. Feeney) prefer the Mancini soundtrack, but this was not Welles's intention. Editor Walter Murch, who is also an Oscar-winning sound mixer, has recreated Welles's preferred sound design to perfection for the opening sequence, which makes it an entirely different experience. (The sequence also plays without titles in the Reconstructed Version, an improvement that no one disputes.) Numerous tweaks have been made throughout the Reconstructed Version, including improved synchronization. Producer Rob Schmidlin points out many of these small changes in his solo commentary. At the same time, the reconstruction team did not try to "improve" or "sweeten" the original mix. It still sounds like a mono mix made for a 1958 film, with appropriate, but very good, dynamic range and fidelity. The dialogue is clear, and Mancini's score, which is now used more sparingly, still sounds wonderful.
Universal previously released the Reconstructed Version of Touch of Evil on DVD in 2000 with only a trailer and Welles's 1957 memo as extras. In 2008, the studio released a two-disc "50th Anniversary Edition" with the three versions of the film included on the Blu-ray and the extras listed below, all of which have been ported over:
It's unfortunate that we will never have the final version of Touch of Evil that Orson Welles envisioned when he was shooting the film for Universal. What we have, though, is a unique and memorable creation of such compelling power that an unprecedented effort was mounted to bring the film as close to its creator's vision as the existing materials would allow. In whatever version you choose to see it, Touch of Evil makes a lasting impression. Universal's Blu-ray presentation is first-rate and highly recommended.
StudioCanal Collection
1949
1955
Encore Edition | Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1953
1944
1986
1955
Includes They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! and The Organization on standard BD
1967-1971
1990
1955
1947
4K Restoration
1973
1995
Includes Elia Kazan: Outsider 1982 Documentary
1954
1953
1955
1946
Warner Archive Collection
1947
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1950
1955
1954