10 Films With Multiple Different Cuts

Widely regarded as one of the greatest film noirs ever made, Touch of Evil has endured some of the worst production releases in history.

When seeing the finished film Orson Welles saw to his horror that his film had been cut-to-pieces like a breadstick at a picnic by the studio. So as to try and regain some artistic control, Welles wrote a 58-page memo, detailing how the film should be recut and put together.

The 1958 cut of the film featured scenes that weren't even directed by Welles! While there are conflicting tales as to who did what, it's largely thought that Welles was not aware that these scenes had been filmed, meanwhile, Universal claim that the director refused to comply with the reshoots and simply rejected the chance to direct them.

The studio subsequently ignored his memo and released the film as they liked it.

While there is a 1976 version of the film, this isn't really so much a cut of the film, so much as a preview version that was never authorised by director or studio and featured mainly footage that was ultimately left on the cutting room floor in the 1958 cut.

Then, finally, in 1998, Walter Murch and Rick Schmidlin decided to recut the film using Welles' memo. Since the original rough cut of the film cannot be found anywhere, a tue Director's Cut is unlikely, but this is as close to the memo that Welles ordered that they could make.

Touch of Evil is a classic film and is home to one of the most breathtaking long takes in cinema history and an undeniable classic in the filmography of a near unparalleled genius.