STARRING: Orson Welles, Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh with Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff and Marlene Dietrich.
Returning to Hollywood after a decade in Europe, Welles directed and starred, giving one of his most Shakespearean performances as the ageing, corrupt police chief Captain Quinlan in a small US town on the Mexico border. During post-production, however, creative differences between Welles and Universal executives resulted in Welles removal from the film, to which Universal applied a more conventional editing style and ordering reshoots, much to Welles’ chagrin. In a 58-page memo outlining his creative vision for the film, he asked that his version be restored. In 1998, the instructions in this 1957 memo were applied to the film’s restoration by editor Walter Murch and producer Rick Schmidlin, who meticulously recut the film to 111 minutes, removed studio-added credits (and Henry Mancini’s music) from the famous, breath-takingly prolonged opening tracking shot, and restored the parallel narrative structure according to Welles’ wishes.
DURATION: 1 hour 51 minutes
📽️ Doors open 5.30, for drinks, nibbles & classic cocktails.
📽️ Films start 6.30 with a brief introduction from the curators.
📽️ Entry is free with a yearly ticket, although we suggest a small donation of £5 per person to help keep the lights on. Yearly tickets can be purchased on the door (£7.50 adult / £6.00 concessions).
📽️ If you buy tickets and are subsequently unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can give your seat(s) to someone else.