Touch of Evil

Touch of Evil (1958) begins with a bomb placed in a car at the Mexican border. The car explodes and both sides claim the investigation: a Mexican prosecutor and an American police captain. Quinlan has worked by planting evidence for years and believes there is a moral system behind it. The opening is a single crane shot of nearly three and a half minutes. The bomb goes into the car, the camera follows a couple walking down the street, and nothing is cut until the border gate. The real story happened in the editing room. Shooting finished in April 1957, and the studio then held a rough cut screening while Welles was away. He was furious, and Universal removed him from the edit. By November 1957 the studio had cut about fifteen minutes and hired the director Harry Keller to shoot additional explanatory scenes. Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh objected and were contractually obliged to take part. After seeing the new cut, on 5 December 1957 Welles sent a 58 page memo to Universal's head Edward Muhl setting out in detail how he had designed the film. The studio refused. In 1998 Walter Murch re-edited it according to that memo. The credits and Henry Mancini's music were taken off the opening, and the cross cutting was rearranged as Welles had described. It runs 111 minutes. Good for: film noir, technically ambitious filmmaking, and Welles. Less good for: which version you see changes the film substantially. Charlton Heston playing a Mexican in darkened makeup is indefensible now. The plot is tangled and hard to follow on a first viewing.