I keep staring at this blank screen and not writing. I'm not sure if I'm just tired or if I'm at a loss for words. Probably a little bit of both. Today's movie is
Touch of Evil, directed, written by, and featuring Orson Welles. It was one of the last film noirs ever made, and pretty much marked the end of Orson Welles' career for the studio system, as well. The beginning of the film told me that the studio badly cut the film, and released it with a bunch of weird inserted scenes and cuts. Welles was so angry that mere hours after being shown the new version, he wrote a 58 page letter to the studio pleading his case.
Unfortunately for Welles, they never listened, and the film was released as the second part of a double feature, despite it's famous cast. Only recently did anyone attempt to restore the film to comply with Welles' wishes. I'm glad I never had to see the weird version, and I got to watch the one that tries to stay true to how Welles wanted it. I really liked it - not so much for the confusing plot, but for the directing and the characters. Didn't I just say this last night about a different movie?
