Kino Lorber’s Studio Classics label will release director Orson Welles’ 1958 film noir classic Touch of Evil as separate three-disc 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray sets Feb. 22 (order date Jan. 18).
Starring Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh and Welles, this dark 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. The cast also includes Akim Tamiroff, Marlene Dietrich and Zsa Zsa Gabor.
The new special-edition sets include 4K restorations of three versions of the film: the 96-minute theatrical version, a 109-minute preview version uncovered in 1976, and a 111-minute reconstructed version from 1998 based on Welles’ original vision. The 4K discs also feature Dolby Vision HDR.
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Both sets will include the same bonus material. Disc one includes the theatrical cut, a new audio commentary by film historian Tim Lucas, archival commentary with writer/filmmaker F.X. Feeney, and the film’s theatrical trailer.
Disc two, with the reconstructed version, includes a new commentary by film historian Imogen Sara Smith; legacy commentary by Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh and Reconstruction Producer Rick Schmidlin; and an “Evil Lost and Found” featurette.
Disc three features the preview cut with archival audio commentary by Welles historians Jonathan Rosenbaum and James Naremore, plus an “Evil to Life” featurette.