A new DVD set was released this week of the great Welles film "Touch of Evil" with three versions of the film and all kinds of other interesting stuff. This will be the highlight of my weekend, pouring over the contents of this set. If you have never seen the film, my bet is many of you have, now is the time to check it out.

Of course Chuck Heston is in it playing a Mexican, which might throw some people, but the star is really Welles as the nasty and oh so ugly Hank Quinlan. There's a great cast in this film including one of my all time favorite actors Akim Tamiroff and of course Marlene Dietrich. As usual with Welles, the picture is way ahead of its time and involves some pretty unsavory stuff for 1958. It's also magnificently shot, if you geek out about stuff like that, and includes not only the much discussed opening but some of the first handheld work done in a Hollywood picture and also the first shot ever (I'm pretty sure) of actors performing a scene in a moving car. Prior to "Touch Of Evil" car scenes were always process shots. This is a dark film, in every respect, mainly shot at night, with a dark story, dark characters, and amazing use of light and shadow. It's one of those films you can watch a hundred times and still keep finding new things.