>----------
>From: James
Stephenson[SMTP:James_E_Stephenson@umail.umd.edu]
>Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 1998 2:32 PM
>To: RARA-AVIS
>Subject: RARA-AVIS: Touch of Evil
restoration
>
>
>Taken without permission from the LA Times
online.
>
>> 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
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