May 6th: TOUCH OF EVIL (Orson Welles, 1958)
NOTE: This film will be projected in the high-definition Blu-ray format.
In a border town, a Mexican government official and his American wife cross paths with a corrupt veteran police detective.
After shocking the industry with his controversial first feature Citizen Kane, Orson Welles found himself in a diminished position of power in Hollywood, specifically with regard to the editing of his own films. His next three features, The Magnificent Ambersons, The Stranger, and The Lady From Shanghai, were all severely cut in length and re-edited at the orders of studio executives. When his adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth (1948) was pulled from theatres and given a new musical score and dialogue recording before re-release, Welles headed off to Europe.
For the next 8 years, Welles acted in a number of British and European productions including film, television, and radio. He used his money to fund his own adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello, which was filmed over a 3-year period across Europe. In 1956 Welles returned to Hollywood, and after a slow period was offered a villain role in a crime thriller. Actor Charlton Heston, fresh off his huge success as Moses in The Ten Commandments, was offered the lead role, and agreed on the condition that Welles (whom he admired) would direct the film as well.
Welles claims to have not read the pulp novel the studio had bought the rights to, using only its skeleton for his draft of the screenplay, changing the identity of various characters, and moving the story's setting close to the U.S.-Mexico border. Brought on board the crew was cinematographer Russell Metty, who had shot Welles' The Stranger.
Joining Heston in the cast are rising star Janet Leigh (Hitchcock's Psycho), TV star Dennis Weaver (Gunsmoke), theatre veteran Joseph Calleia, former Welles collaborators Joseph Cotten, Ray Collins, and Akim Tamiroff, and Hollywood friends of the director including Marlene Dietrich, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Mercedes McCambridge (Johnny Guitar). Some filmed their scenes without the studios knowledge or approval.
Rehearsals with the main actors went on for two weeks before cameras rolled, with Leigh and Heston helping to rewrite their dialogue. Unable to shoot on location in Tijuana, Welles shot the majority of the film in run-down Venice, California. To minimize studio interference, the crew worked at night as much as possible. In addition to Welles' trademark baroque camera angles, his masterstroke was an unbroken 3+ minute tracking crane shot that opens the film.
Despite completing production on time and within budget constraints, Welles' efforts went unappreciated after the studio rejected his initial edit. They re-cut it without his involvement or approval, including new scenes shot by another director. After seeing the studio's version, Welles wrote a now-famous 58-page memo with suggestions on how to make their version work better as a film, including reinstituting the cross-cutting strategy he deemed crucial to understanding the story.
The studio ignored most of his suggestions and relegated the film to "B-movie" status at the bottom half of a double feature, and it was barely promoted despite its big-name cast. Despite the tampering, the film enjoyed life as one of Welles' most admired and referenced works. In 1998, film editor Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now) used the surviving materials to reconstruct the film as close as possible to what Welles intended in his memo, to great praise from fans and critics.
Running time is approx. 110 minutes.
In a border town, a Mexican government official and his American wife cross paths with a corrupt veteran police detective.
After shocking the industry with his controversial first feature Citizen Kane, Orson Welles found himself in a diminished position of power in Hollywood, specifically with regard to the editing of his own films. His next three features, The Magnificent Ambersons, The Stranger, and The Lady From Shanghai, were all severely cut in length and re-edited at the orders of studio executives. When his adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth (1948) was pulled from theatres and given a new musical score and dialogue recording before re-release, Welles headed off to Europe.
Welles claims to have not read the pulp novel the studio had bought the rights to, using only its skeleton for his draft of the screenplay, changing the identity of various characters, and moving the story's setting close to the U.S.-Mexico border. Brought on board the crew was cinematographer Russell Metty, who had shot Welles' The Stranger.
Joining Heston in the cast are rising star Janet Leigh (Hitchcock's Psycho), TV star Dennis Weaver (Gunsmoke), theatre veteran Joseph Calleia, former Welles collaborators Joseph Cotten, Ray Collins, and Akim Tamiroff, and Hollywood friends of the director including Marlene Dietrich, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Mercedes McCambridge (Johnny Guitar). Some filmed their scenes without the studios knowledge or approval.
Rehearsals with the main actors went on for two weeks before cameras rolled, with Leigh and Heston helping to rewrite their dialogue. Unable to shoot on location in Tijuana, Welles shot the majority of the film in run-down Venice, California. To minimize studio interference, the crew worked at night as much as possible. In addition to Welles' trademark baroque camera angles, his masterstroke was an unbroken 3+ minute tracking crane shot that opens the film.
Despite completing production on time and within budget constraints, Welles' efforts went unappreciated after the studio rejected his initial edit. They re-cut it without his involvement or approval, including new scenes shot by another director. After seeing the studio's version, Welles wrote a now-famous 58-page memo with suggestions on how to make their version work better as a film, including reinstituting the cross-cutting strategy he deemed crucial to understanding the story.
The studio ignored most of his suggestions and relegated the film to "B-movie" status at the bottom half of a double feature, and it was barely promoted despite its big-name cast. Despite the tampering, the film enjoyed life as one of Welles' most admired and referenced works. In 1998, film editor Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now) used the surviving materials to reconstruct the film as close as possible to what Welles intended in his memo, to great praise from fans and critics.
Running time is approx. 110 minutes.
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