Touch of Evil: Orson Welles, Director (Rutgers Films in Print, Vol. 3) (Rutgers Films in Print, 3)

ISBN 10: 081351097X / ISBN 13: 9780813510972

Published by Rutgers University Press, 1985

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Touch of Evil: Orson Welles, Director (Rutgers Films in Print, Vol. 3) (Rutgers Films in Print, 3)
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Publication Date: 1985
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 081351097X
• ISBN 13: 9780813510972
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Welles is by consensus one of the most talented directors who ever worked in Hollywood, and this flamboyant film - a 1958 exploration of the thriller form - is one of his greatest achievements. 

Comito's introduction considers the film's relation to the tradition of film noir and demonstrates how Welles's mastery of cinematic language transforms the materials of a routine thriller into a work that is at once a sardonic examination of the dark side of sexuality, an elegiac rumination on the loss of innocence, and a disquieting assault on the viewer's own moral and ascetic certainties. 

Other contextual materials in the book include a biographical sketch of Welles; an important interview with Welles by Andre Bazin, Charles Bitsch, and Jean Domarchi, available here for the first time in English; an interview with Charlton Heston on the making of the film; representative reviews; critical essays by William Johnson, Jean Collett (translated especially for this book), Stephen Heath; an analysis of the relation of the complete film to Welles's recently discovered shooting script; and filmography and bibliography. The continuity script collates the two available versions of Touch of Evil and provides an invaluable, shot-by-shot guide through the visual and audio complexities of Welles's masterpiece. 

About the Author

Terry Comito was Professor of English at George Mason University.