Touch of Evil (1958) — The Opening Sequence (Welles’ original)

Movie: Touch of Evil (1958) Scene: The Opening Sequence (version released in 1998) Touch of Evil is a 1958 crime drama film noir, written, directed by, and co-starring Orson Welles. The screenplay was loosely based on the novel Badge of Evil by Whit Masterson. The film opens with a three-minute, twenty-second tracking shot widely considered by critics as one of the greatest long takes in cinema history. Welles wrapped production on time and delivered a rough cut to Universal. However, the film was then re-edited (and in part re-shot) by Universal International pictures. The editing process was protracted and disputed, and the version eventually released was not the film Universal or Welles had hoped for. It was released as a B-movie, the lower half of a double feature. The A-movie was The Female Animal, directed by Harry Keller, whom the studio had hired to direct the re-shot material in Touch of Evil. Three versions of the film have been released: 1. The original 1958 release (93 minutes). This version differed substantially from Welles’ original cut, both in the editing and in the addition of new scenes directed by Harry Keller. 2. A 108-minute version released in 1976 that incorporated material cut from the 1958 release. 3. A version released in 1998 that implemented Welles’ notes from his long memo to the studio. Welles wrote this memo in December 1957 after viewing a version incorporating Keller’s scenes, and that had been edited without Welles’ participation. Notable changes include the removal of the credits and Henry Mancini’s music from the opening sequence.