Eureka
Video: The Masters of Cinema Series
USA | 111 min.
1.37:1 + 1.85:1 ratios
By Adrian Smith
Orson Welles liked to relate the tale
of how one evening he headed home after a long day directing Touch of Evil,
whilst also playing corrupt cop Hank Quinlan, to find his wife was throwing a
dinner party. Still in his full costume and make-up, looking bloated, haggard
and on the point of collapse, guests who had not seen Welles for some time
remarked, “Orson, it's great to see you looking so well!” Hank Quinlan does not look like a
well man. He's an American trying to solve a bombing in a small Mexican border
town. He seems to be tired of police work. He just wants to get the job done,
and he is not above manipulating the truth or faking evidence. After all, the
guy is probably guilty anyway. Reluctantly he is aided in his investigation by
Mexican super-cop Mike Vargas, played by Charlton Heston, who knows that even
the police aren't above the law. He's taken down some of the worst gangsters
and mobsters in town, and now he has Quinlan firmly set in his sights. Throw in
a new bride (Janet Leigh) and a mysterious gypsy woman (the enigmatic Marlene
Deitrich), and you have the makings of one of the best thrillers ever made.
This is arguably Welles' finest film since Citizen Kane, and it was also
the last he made in Hollywood. He was cast as Quinlan before Charlton Heston
suggested to the studio that he ought to direct the picture too. Welles cast
aside the potboiler crime plot and focused on the corruption of the man at the
centre of the film. Who committed the bombing is not interesting or important.
The heart of the story is one style of policing against another, old versus
new, corrupt versus clean, and perhaps most shockingly for its time, American
versus Mexican.
The treatment of the film by a
confused Universal Studios is now legendary. Unhappy with the way Welles edited
the film they waited until he was out of the country (raising funds for his
next project, the unfilmed Don Quixote) before re-cutting and
re-shooting whole sections of the movie. In their eyes they made it easier for audiences to
understand. Universal wanted a simple crime story, not a treatise on the fall
of man. When Welles finally saw this new version, he was distraught. He
produced a lengthy memo detailing everything that needed to be changed, which
was duly ignored. When the film was released in 1958 it was a huge hit despite
Universal's butchery, and Welles went to Europe, unhappy but unable to do
anything about it. Sadly he died before the film was revisited with more
sympathetic eyes. In 1998 his memo was studied and followed as closely as possible
with the remaining film elements. The result was a film far closer to his
original vision and proved that he had been right all along. This new version
was a truly great experience, confirming Welles' status as one of the best
directors of all time.
This new Blu-ray release from Eureka
gives audiences the opportunity to see the film in its 1958 version, the 1998
“restoration” edit and a 1957 preview version, which is longer and contains
some differences from both other versions. The picture quality for each is
stunning. The option is also available to watch the film in either 1.85:1 or 1.37.1.
There is still some debate, as explained in the fifty-six page booklet, as to
which was Welles' preferred aspect ratio. Each version is accompanied by a
separate commentary track, featuring Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, a collection
of Welles scholars and the producer of the restoration edit. Also available are
documentaries on the making of the film and the restoration, which shed some
light on how Welles worked, and how challenging it was bringing the film back
to his vision (these documentaries have previously been screened on television,
and are not new productions). The booklet contains essays from Welles alongside
Francoise Truffaut and film theorist Andre Bazin. The most fascinating extra of
all is available to
download from Eureka's website: a
full copy of Welles' 1957 memo itself. http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/welles-memo.pdf
Touch of Evil deserves its
reputation as perhaps the last real film noir, and certainly one of the best.
This high definition release is a must have for anyone with an interest in
classic cinema.
