Touch Of Evil

We do enjoy discussing the foundational effect modern directors have on their films --- the whole auteur theory of the style and technique of a director in producing idiosyncratic work. And in film noir, there are plenty of directors who made their reputation in film and the establishment of their hallmark style within the genre. In the last few months, we’ve visited several such directors who drove deep into the style of film noir --- some later branched out into other work while keeping their significant style. Others plowed a furrow mostly in noir and in retrospect furthered the recognition of the genre itself. To name but a few, we’ve recently clocked in Fritz Lang, Anthony Mann, Robert Siodmack, and Jules Dassin. You might add Otto Preminger, Jacques Tourneur, and the great Billy Wilder. They brought their characteristic feel to noir and contributed to the idea of the director as author of the entirety of the film --- all else subsumed to their vision.

 But one of the more impactful and deeply moving of films noir was authored by a director who was an auteur before the phrase was created. A director who was famous and notorious in film – making from his first feature onward. The first feature delivered, by the way, at age 25. A proclaimed genius of film. Many have recognized his first film as perhaps among if not the greatest film in history. He had a nodding acquaintance with films that would be known as noir in later years --- but they merely reflected the fantastic and magical way he saw film and created with cinema. His style was seen across many genres and subject areas --- but it was especially valid for film noir. He was a natural in the movement. His name --- George Orson Welles.

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