List Price: $26.98You Pay Only: $19.99 You Save: $6.99 (26%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Universal
EAN: 0025195027809
Format: Black & White, Dolby, DVD-Video, Restored, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Universal Studios
Region Code: 1
Release Date: October 07, 2008
Running Time: 95 minutes
Sales Rank: 1790
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: 1958
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Editorial Review:
Description:
Experience director Orson Welles’ masterpiece Touch of Evil like never before in an all-new 50th Anniversary Edition DVD! Starring Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh and Orson Welles himself, this exceptional film noir portrait of corruption and morally compromised obsessions tells the story of a crooked police chief who frames a Mexican youth as part of an intricate criminal plot.
Now for the first time ever, see all three versions of the film – the preview version, the theatrical version and the restored version based on Orson Welles’ vision. The Touch of Evil 50th Anniversary Edition commemorates a true cinematic achievement and is an essential addition to the very movie lover’s library!
Amazon.com essential video:
Considered by many to be the greatest B movie ever made, the original-release version of Orson Welles's film noir masterpiece Touch of Evil was, ironically, never intended as a B movie at all--it merely suffered that fate after it was taken away from writer-director Welles, then reedited and released in 1958 as the second half of a double feature. Time and critical acclaim would eventually elevate the film to classic status (and Welles's original vision was meticulously followed for the film's 1998 restoration), but for four decades this original version stood as a testament to Welles's directorial genius. From its astonishing, miraculously choreographed opening shot (lasting over three minutes) to Marlene Dietrich's classic final line of dialogue, this sordid tale of murder and police corruption is like a valentine for the cinematic medium, with Welles as its love-struck suitor. As the corpulent cop who may be involved in a border-town murder, Welles faces opposition from a narcotics officer (Charlton Heston) whose wife (Janet Leigh) is abducted and held as the pawn in a struggle between Heston's quest for truth and Welles's control of carefully hidden secrets. The twisting plot is wildly entertaining (even though it's harder to follow in this original version), but even greater pleasure is found in the pulpy dialogue and the sheer exuberance of the dazzling directorial style. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Another Sorry Mess. Highly regrettable. Bad storytelling.
A big "Citizen Kane" fan in my youth, I saw Touch of Evil in 1981 and thought it was simply awful. Then recently I heard of this reissue, and thought I'd buy it and watch it again. I discovered that in our youth we often know what's right, but often doubt ourselves. The movie is still awful. It may be more true to Welle's vision, but it's still awful. His talent had gone, quite obviously, by this time.
Many of us want so desperately to find Welles' later work important that we'll do almost anything to trick ourselves into thinking it is. Most often men do this... women know it may quack like a duck but it ain't no duck. This movie is hard to watch, not credible, the writing is unnatural and stilted, the premise preposterous.
Yes, the opening crane shot is elaborate and done in one take. But a bit unnecessary. Lots of work to show a car bombing. And overly long and trying - like the entire picture.
This movie is really Welles doing an impersonation of himself. The pacing is deadening, it's hard to follow. It was written apparently for Welles to impress us with his filmmaking, not to tell us a story. There is no regard for the audience here. Like all his later films, this is like an overwritten book that is hard to read, rather than lucid storytelling. The film has no balance - each scene is trying to be a mini-epic, rather than an element to tell the story.
A movie, after all, exists to communicate a story. Some scenes do need to be visually loud ... Read More
Rating:  - unleashes an electrical charge!
A bomb goes off in a car across the Mexican border and a man is chosen to take the rap. Meanwhile another man of the law who's on his way to his honeymoon with his bride, suspects a police frame-up. Forced by his conscience, he takes on the corrupt and the criminal and puts himself and his newlywed wife in grave danger. Welles' Touch Of Evil is a cruel-realized poem of corruption, greed and murder. It's a dark, vicious, chaotic world and from the first scene to the last, Welles holds it together, pulls it apart and unleashes it with an electrical charge! The great musical score supports the stunning action and photography!
Rating: - "He was some kind of a man." "Adios."
I love this set,definitely worth the wait. If your a fan of classic cinema,or love Orson Welles. Get it. "You know he's pretty good."
Rating: - One of the best murder scenes
The great underappreciated actor here is Akim Tamiroff. Next time you watch it try to picture how much less great it would be if an inferior actor had played his role. "Make 'em nice an' big!"
Rating: - Welles and film noir: a winning combination
Simply put, Touch of Evil (as Orson Welles wrote and shot it) ranks as one of the best film noirs in Hollywood history. Touch of Evil attains this classic status through the brilliant directing of Orson Welles, a script that remains true to the spirit of film noir, and exceptional acting.
Welles' finesse behind the camera quickly sucks the reader into the seedy underbelly of a city straddling the US/Mexico border. The first three minutes or so simply set the stage for the movie by following Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh as they cruise around town. As the camera follows the car, it also shows the surrounding city and it's lively atmosphere, perfectly accompanied by music that sets the town. Simply describing this opening shot barely scrapes the surface of Welles' vision. You have to see this scene in order to truly understand that it is one of the best opening scenes in cinematic history. Although there are not as many memorable scenes after this, Welles maintains his daring directing style throughout the movie to maintain the film noir atmosphere.
Welles also writes a script that is so enveloped in film noir atmosphere that shadowy fogs issue from the TV screen. There are very few characters as memorable as Welles' Det. Quinlan, a man who has a tortured past and a continually corrupt present and future. This character alone represents the anti-hero found in most noir, making other film noir elements such as the actually mystery behind Quinlan and his illegal actions ... Read More
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