Two notable film festival screenings this month will appeal to Orson Welles enthusiasts and classic film fans.
Longtime Chicago Reader film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum (Discovering Orson Welles) will host a screening of the restored version Touch of Evil at the Chicago International Film Festival on October 22 at 12:15 p.m..
Rosenbaum was a consultant on the critically acclaimed 1998 restoration produced by Rick Schmidlin and edited by Walter Murch, which used a 58-page memo written by Welles to undo the changes forced upon the film by Universal Pictures in 1958.
Welles’ take on murder, racism and police corruption in a Mexican border town stars Welles, Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh.
Admission for the Touch of Evil screening is $15 and tickets are available online at https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/film/touch-of-evil/
On the West Coast, the Orange County Film Fiesta marks the 75th anniversary of Welles’ sophomore Hollywood offering, The Magnificent Ambersons, with a free screening of the film in a setting worthy of the magnificence of the Ambersons. It will be introduced by Orange Coast College professor Lee Gordon.
The Magnificent Ambersons will be shown on October 13 at 6 p.m. at the picturesqe Heritage Museum of Orange County, a turn-of-the-20th Century, cotillion-themed setting in Santa Ana.
The 1942 RKO Pictures drama about the decline of a wealthy Midwestern family stars Joseph Cotton, Tim Holt, Anne Baxter and Dolores Costello.
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