Thread by @mcclure111

Twitter's talking about ORSON WELLES today so I want to talk about a lesser-known film of his I'm obsessed with, TOUCH OF EVIL

What to know about Touch of Evil is there are three versions:

1. 1958 "studio" cut (OK)
2. 1976 "restored" cut (AVOID)
3. 1998 "Murch" cut (VERY GOOD)

The 1958 version is the original theatrical release. The studio stepped in late, took the picture away from Welles, recut & rescored. And some of the changes were… good! Welles sent a detailed memo saying "I'll approve this version—IF" certain changes were made. (It was ignored)

The 1976 cut was, from what I have read, kind of a mistake. Sometime in the early 70s a workprint of "Touch of Evil" was found, and it wound up getting screened and released as the "restored" version. Unfortunately, it's just a workprint.

The 1976 version is basically a mishmash of two different cuts of the film and doesn't entirely make sense, including exactly *half* of a subplot that was cut mid-filming. Unfortunately, this is the version on most streaming services, misleadingly labeled as a "restored" version.

In 1998, Walter Murch decided to go back and use the original cut, the workprint, and Welles' detailed memo to create an *actual* restored Welles cut, the way Welles as of last contact wanted it.

This is the only version I have seen. It is *incredible*.

The 1998/Murch cut was released once on DVD, and only *very* recently (2018) on Blu-Ray in a pack with the other two cuts. The 1998 cut can also currently be streamed from the BFI website, but *only* if you're in the UK.

Probably the 1958 version's good enough.

Anyway, if you can manage to find the 1958 or 1998 cuts Touch of Evil is incredible, a horror-tinged noir about police abuses and the corrupting influence of power.

(Oh, and please forgive Welles for the Charlton Heston casting, that was a studio decision before Welles came on.)

Here's how to find the Murch cut. Listen to the music in the first scene. In the Murch/Welles version, there isn't any. It's all diegetic.
This is worth watching even if you don't watch the film—one of the first great Long Takes.
Keep your eye on the ball:

Here's the studio's version of the first scene. They chickened out and added music— but it's *incredible*, swing to the beat of a ticking clock. This music won an Oscar.
If you hear this music & your version's UNDER 100 minutes, you found the 1958 version.