> Orson Welles Gets Final Cut--at Last
> Movies: Universal, which rearranged his intended
vision of 'Touch
> of Evil' 40 years ago, OKs the reconstruction of
director's version.
> By BILL DESOWITZ, Special to The Times
>
> In a strange twist of fate, Orson Welles will
be
> vindicated by the same studio that spurned him
40
> years ago.
> After altering his flamboyantly offbeat vision
for
> "Touch of Evil," the cultish noir thriller whose
failure
> doomed any hope for him of a Hollywood
comeback,
> Universal has green-lighted the reconstruction of
Welles'
> intended version--concluding one of the most
mysterious
> projects of his tempestuous career.
> Filmmaker Rick Schmidlin, who has
passionately
> pursued the project for four years, will produce
the
> "Touch of Evil" reconstruction with acclaimed
editor
> Walter Murch (last year's Oscar winner for "The
English
> Patient"). They will collaborate with
Universal
> preservation director Bob O'Neil and sound
operations
> vice president Bill Varney (an Oscar winner for
both
> "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Raiders of the
Lost
> Ark"). Jonathan Rosenbaum, the dedicated
Welles
> scholar, will assist as research
consultant.
> "This is not a restoration or a new Welles
film,"
> Schmidlin says. "We want to tell his story with
the
> punctuation points he wanted. This will be a
clear
> example of what Welles intended 'Touch of Evil' to
be
> and how to present it."
> With "Touch of Evil," his first American film after
a
> decade in exile, Welles transformed pulp fiction
about
> police corruption into a baroque Shakespearean
tragedy
> about love, loss and betrayal. At the same time, it
was a
> Grand Guignol black comedy (shot in nearby
Venice)
> with a bizarre cast: Charlton Heston as a Mexican
cop!
> Marlene Dietrich as a fortuneteller! Akim Tamiroff as
a
> bumbling gangster! And Welles as a
gargoyle-like
> detective more "frightened than
frightening"!
> But it was his film's jarring and audacious
editing
> style that got Welles into the most trouble
with
> Universal, which released a more
conventional
> B-movie--inserting new footage and rearranging
the
> director's cross-cutting design for geographic
clarity, as
> well as sweetening the love story between Heston
and
> co-star Janet Leigh as his wife.
> Although there are currently three versions of
the
> film in circulation--a 108-minute preview print,
a
> 93-minute release print and an amalgamation on
home
> video--Welles' unfinished rough cut no longer
exists.
> What does exist, however, is a detailed 58-page
memo
> the director wrote in 1957 to then-studio chief
Edward
> Muhl after he was barred from the editing room.
(Until
> his rough cut was screened by Universal,
Welles
> maintained that he received the studio's
full
> cooperation.)
> The memo, excerpted by Rosenbaum in a 1992
Film
> Quarterly article, was in response to Welles' viewing
of
> the studio's rough cut (which included about 10
minutes
> of new footage shot by director Harry Keller).
Welles
> implored Muhl to implement his suggestions to
improve
> the film. A few of the suggestions were
incorporated
> into the longer preview version in early 1958, but
the
> rest were ignored--until now.
> "The big question is, 'What did Welles intend?'
"
> Schmidlin says. "I finally put the pieces together
after
> uncovering a gold mine of background material. I
even
> discovered some lost documents at USC. We have all
of
> Welles' editorial notes and the shooting script, but
the
> best thing we have is the complete memo. We will
be
> using the memo as our guide in piecing together
what
> Welles intended. We want to figure out where this
man's
> mind was at in 1957."
> According to the memo, Welles argued for
the
> restoration of his cross-cutting on the basis of
dramatic
> contrast and stylistic consistency. He additionally
called
> for an improved sound mix and the retention of
only
> those scenes shot by Keller that he
approved.
> "By rearranging the action in a different order,
it
> gives new meaning," Schmidlin adds. "A
Dietrich
> reaction shot at the end was put in the wrong place.
Put
> it in the right place, and the emotion changes. We
also
> know that Welles was very influenced by
Italian
> neo-realism at the time--and that 'Shoeshine' was
his
> favorite. I think we'll realize that Welles was
making a
> Hollywood neo-realist B-movie."
> Rosenbaum counters that "Touch of Evil" was
really
> a return to one of Welles' own influences: "This will
not
> transform the film," he says. "We won't know until
we
> see it, what the impact will be, but Welles worked
on
> certain concepts for sequences, using sound to create
a
> sense of space, that comes back to his roots in
radio.
> For example, the end is full of disembodied
voices
> coming from loudspeakers indicative of the
radio
> influence."
> The most noticeable change will occur in the
famous
> opening sequence, with the removal of the main
titles,
> drawing us more deeply into the myriad sights
and
> sounds along the seedy Mexican border in that
bravura
> tracking shot leading up to the exploding
car.
> The plan is to reconstruct a new version from
the
> surviving negative and the preview print that
was
> immediately shelved (and rediscovered in the
mid-1970s
> by the UCLA Film and Television Archive).
> "We can make a new duplicate negative from
this
> blend, and we have the original magnetic sound
masters
> to work with for the first time," O'Neil explains.
"This
> means that we can separate dialogue, music and
effects,
> clean them up and hear them better. My job will be
to
> provide a seamless look by matching contrast
and
> densities. This will be made a lot easier with the
help of
> digital technology."
> Murch, celebrated for his groundbreaking work
on
> both "The Conversation" and "Apocalypse Now,"
was
> recruited by Schmidlin primarily because of his
sound
> expertise, and because he is a fan of "Touch of
Evil."
> "This is a process of discovery for me," Murch
says.
> "In reading the memo, you learn how articulate
Welles
> was on sound and how much space he devoted to it.
For
> the time, he was really in advance [of what people
were
> doing]. We have a few specific guidelines, but fate
has
> left it up to us to decide where we do our
transitions.
> There will be a little bit of channeling Mr.
Welles.
> "Certain directions that he went in some scenes
will
> be present in other scenes. There's a succession
of
> different Latin musical numbers--loud,
contrasting
> mambo and rock--that he wanted highlighted in
the
> opening and in other scenes. It's wonderfully similar
to
> what George Lucas and I did 14 years later in
'American
> Graffiti' with Wolfman Jack. Welles got the
jump."
> Meanwhile, the integral cross-cutting that
Welles
> emphasized begins after the explosion, when
Heston
> starts his investigation and separates from Leigh,
who
> becomes the target of sadistic abuse by Tamiroff's
gang.
>
> Welles writes: "What's vital is that both
stories--the
> leading man's and the leading woman's--be kept
equally
> and continuously alive; each scene, as we move
back
> and forth across the border, should play at roughly
equal
> lengths leading up to the moment at the hotel when
the
> lovers meet again. . . . No point concerning anything
in
> the picture is made with such urgency and
such
> confidence as this. Do please-please give it a fair
try."
> "It really plays better--every time we make
a
> change," Schmidlin offers. "He was working on
a
> rhythmic opening that was not accepted by the
studio,
> and we can't understand why. If Welles had had
an
> editor like Walter, who understands this rhythm,
he
> might've convinced them, but we're lucky to have
him
> now."
> Director Peter Bogdanovich, who became
Welles'
> confidant as a journalist in the late 1960s, isn't
surprised:
> "It proves how you can damage a movie and not
realize
> it when it's cut differently. Orson was not
conventional
> in any way. He was way ahead of us and we're
still
> catching up." (A new edition of "This Is Orson
Welles,"
> an account of their conversations, edited
by
> Rosenbaum, will be published by De Cappa in
February,
> containing the excerpted version of the
memo.)
> Heston, who asserts that he was the first to
suggest
> that Welles direct "Touch of Evil," actually saw
the
> director's work print, and downplays the
differences:
> "The original cut was very close to what
Universal
> wanted," the actor says. "They did nothing to alter
his
> original conception of the film. I think he liked to
be
> painted into a corner. . . . I think he got bored
when he
> turned in the film. He walked away and went to
Mexico
> [to start "Don Quixote"]. You just don't do that. It
was a
> sufficient enough film to rejuvenate his
career.
> "Orson was absolutely brilliant in preparing
and
> shooting a film . . . working with actors and crews.
It
> was the closest I've ever come to making it fun.
My
> main contribution to film may be that I made it
possible
> for Orson to make his last American film."
> A spring completion is anticipated for the
> reconstructed "Touch of Evil," with the film opening
in
> several big markets in the fall, including the Nuart
in
> West Los Angeles. October Films will be distributing
the
> film.
> "It'll be great to reexamine it in light of
today,"
> Murch adds. "It will allow people to see how
'L.A.
> Confidential' is 'Touch of Evil' circa 1958 because
of
> the corruption--a second- or third-generation
influence.
> But it's really about Welles himself. It's so
poignant . . .
> so self-referential . . . so prophetic, when he sees
his old
> lover, Dietrich, and she tells him he has no future.
We're
> just trying to do the best job we can and lay
some
> ghosts to rest and make Orson happier."
-- James Stephenson Rare Books & Special Collections Cataloger McKeldin Library University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 Mailto:js272@umail.umd.edu # # To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to majordomo@icomm.ca. # The web pages for the list are at http://www.vex.net/~buff/rara-avis/.