Hi this is Steve. This week we are going back to 1958 and one of the most important, controversial, and endlessly fascinating films in the history of cinema.

It also happens to be one of our all-time favorites. We are talking about Orson Wells's classic

noir thriller, Touch of Evil. It stars Charlton Heston, Janet Lee, and Orson Wells himself

as the dangerous and disturbing Hank Quinlan.

This is a great film in every sense of the word.

And as is often true with Orson's movies, the story behind Touch of Evil is almost as interesting as the film itself. You see this film

was taken out of Orson's hands and the 80-page memo he wrote on how to fix it was

ignored by the studio. It wasn't until the mid 90s a decade after Orson's death that an attempt was made to cut the film as he intended.

One of the greatest editors of all time, Walter Murch, was hired to recut the film, and the result

is the far superior Reconstructed Director's Cut.

Now you can rent Touch of Evil on YouTube and buy it on iTunes, but the versions there do not seem to be the

Director's Cut.

There is, however, a fantastic Blu-ray, which contains all three versions of the film, as well

as documentaries and commentary tracks.

If you're a serious film fan and haven't seen this one, well, it's time to remedy that situation.

Touch of Evil contains great performance as groundbreaking camera work, fantastic music, and a story that

is as thrilling and tense as it is complex.

That's the groundbreaking touch of Evil next time on the Cinephiles. We'll see you then. Hi and welcome once again to the cinnophiles where each week we enter the world of a

classic film and explore its history themes, filmmaking and the influence it has on filmmakers today. My name is Steve Morris. I'm a

filmmaker and directing instructor in Los Angeles, California.

Hi, I'm John Roca. I'm an actor and VEO actor here in California. I also host a bunch of other podcasts and YouTube shows.

So today's a big one. Yeah, yeah. For both of us. Yeah, oh yeah.

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