Touch of Evil – Kino Lorber (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1958
Director: Orson Welles
Writer: Orson Welles
Cast: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Joanna Moo, Ray Collins, Dennis Weaver, Valentin de Vargas, Marlene Dietrich, Zsa Zsa Gabor

Release Date: March 8th, 2022
Approximate Running Times: 110 Minutes 42 Seconds (Reconstructed Version), 95 Minutes 24 Seconds (Theatrical Version), 109 Minutes 1 Second (Preview Version)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10 (All Versions)
Rating: NR (Theatrical Cut, Preview Cut), PG-13 (Reconstructed Cut)
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English (All Versions)
Subtitles: English (All Versions)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $59.95

"this dark portrait of corruption and morally compromised obsessions tells the story of a crooked police chief who frames a Mexican youth as part of an intricate criminal plot." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "Brand New Dolby Vision HDR Master of the Theatrical Cut." 

Touch of Evil theatrical cut comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 78.4 GB

Feature: 69.8 GB

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "Brand New Dolby Vision HDR Master of the Reconstructed Cut.", 

Touch of Evil reconstructed cut comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 79.4 GB

Feature: 69.1 GB

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "Brand New Dolby Vision HDR Master of the Preview Cut."

Touch of Evil preview cut comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 77.2 GB

Feature: 66.6 GB

All three versions look fantastic. Image clarity, contrast, and shadow detail are solid throughout. There are no issues with compression, and the grain looks organic. That said, it's hard to imagine that Touch of Evil could look better than it does here.

Audio: 5/5

Each version comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English, and each version comes with removable English subtitles. All three audio mixes are in excellent shape; dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well-presented.

Extras:

Extras on the disc that contains the theatrical cut include the theatrical trailer (2 minutes and 11 seconds, DTS-HD mono English, no subtitles), an archival audio commentary with writer/filmmaker F.X. Feeney, and an audio commentary by film historian Tim Lucas.

Extras on the disc that contains the reconstructed cut include an archival featurette titled Evil Lost and Found (17 minutes 5 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio commentary with Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, and reconstruction producer Rick Schmidlin.

Extras on the disc that contains the preview cut include an archival featurette titled Bringing Evil Back to Life (20 minutes 59 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles) and an audio commentary with Orson Welles Historians Jonathan Rosenbaum and James Naremore.

Other extras include a slipcover.

Summary:

Orson Welles's career as a director is a cautionary tale. At the age of twenty-five, he was given unprecedented power over the final cut of his films. And, despite the fact that he only received a final cut for his first film, Citizen Kane, the films he directed after Citizen Kane were all taken away from him in post-production. They all show the moments of brilliance that he exhibited in Citizen Kane.

This brings us to Touch of Evil, the last film that Orson Welles would direct in Hollywood. What began as a triumphant return to the promise he made with Citizen Kane turned out to be a disaster when the studio took the film away from Orson Welles for the second time.And though he made an attempt to minimize studio interference by writing a memo with his suggestions on how to improve Touch of Evil, none of these suggestions were considered at that time by the studio. Fortunately, the studio would revisit his memo years later and try to correct the damage they did.

From its opening moments, Touch of Evil is a visual feast for the eyes. The opening sequence is a three-and-a-half minute crane shot that follows a vehicle from one end of town to the other as it crosses the border between the United States and Mexico. This sequence epitomizes everything that is synonymous with Orson Welles' cinema. He takes what could have been a mundane sequence and elevates it with a thrilling camera shot.

Visuals are often the main focal point when discussing the cinema of Orson Welles. His films always had solid casts who delivered memorable performances, no matter how small their roles were. Two roles in particular in Touch of Evil loom large, despite only being cameos. Marlene Dietrich (A Foreign Affair) plays Tanya, an old friend of Orson Welles' character, Hank Quinlan.

That said, as good as the entire cast is in their respective roles, no performance is more commanding than Orson Welles' portrayal of Hank Quinian. The way he submerges himself into character, his physical transformation makes him unrecognizable. His performance is arguably one of his best. Another performance of note is Dennis Weaver (Gunsmoke) in the role of night manager at the Mirador Motel. He takes what is essentially a basic character and creates a memorable one.

There are three versions of Touch of Evil. The preview cut contains most of what makes Touch of Evil such an extraordinary film. This cut of Touch of Evil features new scenes not shot by Orson Welles, a main theme over the title sequence, and a narrative that’s structured differently. The theatrical cut is a shorter version of the preview cut. This version is a textbook example of how studio meddling makes a film worse. The reconstructed cut is an attempt to get as close to Orson Welles's original intentions as possible by using the memo he wrote. Two main changes in this cut are the way it's edited and the opening sequence that removes the music and replaces it with natural sound.

It's mind-blowing what Orson Welles was able to achieve with an ample amount of resources. With Touch of Evil, he would create a spectacular film that's a master class in filmmaking.

Touch of Evil makes its way to 4K UHD via an exceptional release from Kino Lorber that comes with three versions of Touch of Evil and a good mix of archival and new insightful extras, highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer