Editing Touch of Evil (section)

===Restorations===
====1976 release====
Robert Epstein, a [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]] film studies professor, had requested a film print for a screening in his class in the early 1970s. Inside the Universal archives, he discovered a 108-minute print of ''Touch of Evil''.{{sfn|Brady|1989|page=507}} It was publicly screened at the [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]] as part of "The 50 Great American Films" on December 15, 1973.<ref>{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Kevin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/381821627 |title=Marathon To Conclude Film Series |date=December 12, 1973 |work=Los Angeles Times |at=Part IV, p. 24 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The [[American Film Institute]], recognizing the historical value of the discovery, had submitted a duplicated [[Negative (photography)|negative]] to the [[Library of Congress]] for preservation in June 1975. A 16&nbsp;mm re-release provided through United World Films, Universal Pictures' non-theatrical distribution arm, was also discussed.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Orson Welles 'Evil' Now Has 'Cult' Aura |magazine=Variety |date=June 25, 1975 |pages=2, 71}}</ref> Subsequently, it was screened at the [[Paris Film Festival]], which was followed with a wide theatrical re-release by Universal Pictures that recognized an increased interest among film fans in Welles's works.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Buffs Show Interest in Enlarged Vault Version of 'Evil' of '58 |magazine=Variety |date=August 27, 1975 |page=4}}</ref>

[[Jonathan Rosenbaum]] published an article in the film magazine ''[[Sight & Sound]]'' in 1975, claiming that, except for a few minor details, the version was "apparently identical to Welles' final cut," and described it as the "definitive version".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Rosenbaum |first=Jonathan |title=Prime Cut |url=https://archive.org/details/Sight_and_Sound_1975_10_BFI_GB/page/n25/mode/2up |magazine=Sight & Sound |date=Autumn 1975 |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=217–218 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> [[Joseph McBride (writer)|Joseph McBride]], in a letter to ''Sight & Sound'', issued a correction, identifying the cut as the "preview" version.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=McBride |first=Joseph |title=Letters |url=https://archive.org/details/Sight_and_Sound_1976_04_BFI_GB/page/n69/mode/2up |magazine=Sight & Sound |volume=45 |issue=2 |date=Spring 1976 |pages=128, 130 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

====1998 release====
In 1998, [[Walter Murch]], working from all available material, re-edited the film based on the Welles memo, with [[Rick Schmidlin]] who produced the re-edit and with the help of Bob O'Neil, Universal's director of film restoration and [[Bill Varney]], Universal's Vice President of Sound Operations, participating in the restoration.<ref name="latimes">{{cite news |first=Valerie J. |last=Nelson |title=Bill Varney dies at 77; Oscar-winning sound mixer |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-bill-varney-20110407-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=April 7, 2011 |access-date=April 10, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Charles |last=Taylor |title=Ballad of a fat man |url=http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/movies/review/1998/09/10/review/ |work=Salon.com |date=10 September 1998 |access-date=May 22, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071204222315/http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/movies/review/1998/09/10/review/ |archive-date=December 4, 2007}}</ref> As Welles's rough cut no longer exists, no true "director's cut" is possible but Murch was able to assemble a version incorporating most of the existing material, omitting some of the Keller scenes (though some were retained, either because they had replaced Welles's lost scenes and were necessary to the plot or because Welles had approved of their inclusion). Some of Welles's complaints concerned subtle sound and editing choices and Murch re-edited the material accordingly.<ref>{{cite news |first=Walter |last=Murch |title=Restoring the Touch Of Genius to a Classic |url=http://www.reelclassics.com/Articles/Films/touchofevil-article.htm |work=New York Times |date=September 6, 1998 |access-date=May 22, 2008}}</ref> Notable changes include the removal of the credits and [[Henry Mancini]]'s music from the opening sequence, cross-cutting between the main story and Janet Leigh's subplot and the removal of Harry Keller's hotel lobby scene. [[Rick Schmidlin]] produced the 1998 edit, which had a limited but successful theatrical release (again by Universal) and was subsequently made available on [[DVD]]. The DVD includes an on-screen reproduction of the 58-page memo.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

Originally scheduled to be premiered at the 1998 [[Cannes Film Festival]] with Janet Leigh, Walter Murch and Rick Schmidlin attending, the screening was canceled at the eleventh hour after threats of [[litigation]] from Welles's daughter, [[Beatrice Welles]]. Her suit against Universal, for not consulting her or obtaining her consent prior to the reworking of ''Touch of Evil'', was settled out of court.<ref>{{cite news |first=Geoffrey |last=Macnab |title=One of our classics is missing |url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,1031039,00.html |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |date=29 August 2003 |access-date=19 August 2006}}</ref> Welles later said she had only asked Universal to inform her on what was being done and when she was ignored, she told the Cannes Festival that the restoration was not sanctioned by the Welles Estate,

<blockquote>I saw it later and it was wonderful...I thought they did an amazing job, and it was very well done. It was what he wanted and it made much more sense than that chopped up nightmare there was before. It was fine and it was his. If they had told me that from the very beginning, none of that would have happened.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wellesnet.com/beatrice-welles-interview-part-1-treasures-to-be-auctioned-life-with-orson-welles-and-public-misconceptions/ |title=Beatrice Welles interview |last1=Kelly |first1=Ray |date=April 1, 2014 |publisher=Wellesnet |access-date=November 13, 2015}}</ref></blockquote>

The 1998 re-edit received awards from the [[1998 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|New York Film Critics Circle]], the [[1998 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards|Los Angeles Film Critics Association]] and [[1998 National Society of Film Critics Awards|National Society of Film Critics]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Past Awards |url=https://nationalsocietyoffilmcritics.com/about-2/ |website=National Society of Film Critics |date=December 19, 2009 |access-date=26 June 2021}}</ref>