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One of Orson Welles’ best has arrived in 4K! Kino Lorber has revived Universal’s 3-version study of the bordertown crime & corruption drama, that knocks us out with Welles’ colorful, weird characters, intricate scene blocking and infinitely creative camera work. Almost all of the extras from the earlier DVD and Blu-ray editions are here, with added expert commentary (the tally of tracks is now five). The performances are superb — Welles won’t lay off the candy bars, Janet Leigh wisely avoids the motel shower and Charlton Heston is actually fine as a ‘pretty unlikely’ Mexican. We’ve seen this show ten times — it’s so dense that each viewing brings new revelations.

Touch of Evil 4K

4K Ultra HD

Kl Studio Classics

1958-1998 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 96, 109, 111 min. / Street Date March 15, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Ray Collins, Joanna Moore,...

In many respects, Orson Welles' 1958 crime-noir melodrama Touch of Evil could be considered the Blade Runner of its day, the only difference being that, unlike Ridley Scott, Welles never got the opportunity to rework the picture to his original version himself. What he did do was write a famous 58-page memo after seeing a preview screening suggesting how Universal could "fix" the picture they'd for some reason taken away from him. The studio, going against all his wishes, released an even more stripped-down (and nonsensical) 96-minute cut of the picture to theaters instead. Like Scott's sci-fi opus, even in a bastardized form Touch of Evil hinted at brilliance. In 1998, restoration producer Rick Schmidlin and Oscar-winning editor Walter Murch were able to bring said brilliance to the forefront by reworking the film according to Welles' memo. While no one will ever know if the talented and iconoclastic auteur would have approved of this "final" version,...