Three different versions of neo-noir masterpiece TOUCH OF EVIL will be shown as part of Orson Welles centennial celebration at Film Forum
TOUCH OF EVIL (Orson Welles, 1958)
Film Forum
209 West Houston St.
Pre-release preview version: Wednesday, January, January 14, 12:30, 2:40, 4:50, 7:00, 10:00
Theatrical release version: Thursday, January 29, 7:00 & 9:00
Reconstruction version: Sunday, February 1, 1:10, 3:20, 8:00, and Monday, February 2, 12:30, 2:40, 4:50, 9:45
Series continues through February 3
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They don’t come much bigger than Orson Welles in his dark potboiler Touch of Evil, as he nearly bursts through the frame as spectacularly dastardly police captain Hank Quinlan. A deliciously devious corrupt lawman, Quinlan is an enormous drunk who has no trouble breaking the rules to get his man. Charlton Heston took a lot of criticism playing Mike Vargas, a Mexican drug enforcement agent newly married to beautiful blonde Susan (Janet Leigh), who soon finds herself menaced by a dangerous gang as a weak-kneed, pre-McCloud Dennis Weaver looks the other way. The film famously opens with a remarkable crane shot that goes on for more than three minutes, setting the stage like no other establishing shot in the history of cinema. And the final scene with Marlene Dietrich as sultry hooker Tana is a lulu as well, highlighted by one of the great all-time movie lines. What goes on in between is a lurid tale of murder and revenge filled with unexpected twists and turns, featuring appearances by such Welles regulars as Joseph Cotten, Akim Tamiroff, Joseph Calleia, and Ray Collins. There was a lot of hype surrounding the film in 1998 when it was restored to match Welles’s original desires, but the final product lives up to its billing. As part of its “Orson Welles 100” festival, honoring the centennial of the always controversial auteur’s birth, Film Forum is screening three different versions of this deeply affecting noir masterpiece: the 108-minute pre-release version on January 14 (with the 7:00 show introduced by Welles historian Joseph McBride), the 93-minute original theatrical edition on January 29, and the 111-minute reconstruction on February 1-2. The Welles festival continues through February 3 with such double features as The Lady from Shanghai and The Third Man, Compulsion and The Long, Hot Summer, and Jane Eyre and Tomorrow Is Forever, multiple versions of Macbeth, and two evenings of Wellesiana rarities hosted by series consultant McBride, author of What Ever Happened to Orson Welles? A Portrait of an Independent Career.