Personal Views: Explorations in Film

6. Welles, Shakespeare and Webster: Touch of Evil

167 From฀what฀is฀known฀of฀Orson฀Welles’s฀early฀life฀and฀background,฀ one฀can฀select฀certain฀features฀of฀obvious฀and฀direct฀relevance฀ to฀his฀films:฀as฀a฀child฀he฀knew฀long฀stretches฀of฀Shakespeare฀by฀ heart฀and฀gave฀recitations฀in฀costume฀to฀audiences฀of฀doting฀ relatives;฀before฀making฀Citizen฀Kane฀he฀worked฀in฀both฀theatre฀ and฀radio;฀from฀childhood฀he฀has฀been฀fascinated฀by฀conjuring ,฀performing฀feats฀of฀magic฀for฀his฀family฀and฀friends,฀entertaining ฀the฀troops฀during฀World฀War฀II฀with฀a฀stage฀magician฀ act.฀Part฀of฀the฀impulse฀behind฀the฀famous฀“War฀of฀the฀Worlds”฀ broadcast฀was฀clearly฀the฀desire฀to฀amaze,฀an฀impulse฀present฀ in฀most฀of฀Welles’s฀film฀work,฀finding฀overt฀expression฀in฀the฀ climactic฀pyrotechnics฀of฀Lady฀from฀Shanghai,฀movingly฀subjugated ฀in฀The฀Immortal฀Story. ฀ The฀fascination฀with฀Shakespeare฀has฀also฀proved฀constant.฀ Apart฀from฀Welles’s฀theatrical฀productions,฀there฀are฀the฀three฀ Shakespeare฀films,฀Macbeth,฀Othello,฀Chimes฀at฀Midnight,฀and฀ the฀long-cherished,฀still-unrealized฀project฀to฀film฀Lear.฀I฀am฀ not฀concerned฀here฀primarily฀to฀trace฀particular฀links฀between฀ Touch฀of฀Evil฀and฀Shakespeare,฀though฀a฀few฀(albeit฀somewhat฀ tenuous)฀exist,฀the฀play฀in฀question฀being฀Macbeth.฀Most฀obviously ,฀there฀is฀the฀blood฀on฀Quinlan’s฀hand฀at฀the฀end,฀washed฀ off฀in฀the฀dirty฀water฀but฀replaced฀almost฀immediately฀as฀he฀ stands฀ under฀ Menzies’s฀ corpse;฀ there฀ is,฀ more฀ generally,฀ the฀ common฀ theme฀ of฀ damnation,฀ of฀ the฀ crossing฀ of฀ points-ofno -return;฀in฀such฀a฀context,฀one฀might฀see฀Marlene฀Dietrich’s฀ Tanya฀as฀a฀benevolent฀version฀of฀the฀witches:฀the฀purpose฀of฀ Quinlan’s฀second฀visit฀to฀her฀in฀the฀film฀is฀to฀be฀told฀his฀future.฀ 6 Welles,฀Shakespeare฀and฀Webster Touch฀of฀Evil 168 chapter฀6 And฀one฀might฀easily฀see฀the฀“night฀man”฀at฀the฀Grandi฀motel฀ (Dennis฀Weaver)฀as฀a฀Wellesian฀equivalent฀for฀the฀Shakespeare฀ clown—with฀as฀specific฀counterpart฀the฀“night฀man”฀of฀Macbeth฀ who฀plays฀at฀being฀porter฀of฀hell-gate:฀he฀represents฀a฀grotesque฀ parody฀of฀one฀of฀the฀film’s฀leading฀themes,฀the฀moral฀complicity฀ in฀evil฀of฀the฀“innocent”฀person฀whose฀innocence฀is฀dependent฀ on฀a฀deliberate฀refusal฀to฀understand฀what฀is฀going฀on.฀Nor฀am฀ I฀concerned฀here฀with฀the฀tendency฀of฀the฀dialogue฀to฀gravitate฀ towards฀the฀rhythms฀of฀the฀iambic฀pentameter฀(“Have฀I฀still฀any฀ credit฀left฀with฀you?”).฀Such฀details฀are฀more฀interesting฀for฀the฀ ambitions฀and฀sense฀of฀affinities฀they฀indicate฀than฀in฀themselves . ฀ What฀is฀important฀is฀Welles’s฀evident฀partial฀identification฀ with฀Shakespeare,฀manifested฀in฀the฀efforts฀to฀create฀a฀visualpoetic ฀world฀equivalent฀to฀the฀“world”฀of฀a฀Shakespeare฀tragedy;฀ in฀the฀constant฀reaching฀out฀for฀a฀tragic฀weight฀and฀grandeur;฀ in฀the฀attempts฀to฀find฀a฀cinematic฀style฀that฀will฀fulfil฀a฀creative฀ function฀analogous฀to฀that฀of฀Shakespeare’s฀verse.฀When฀Touch฀ of฀Evil฀first฀appeared,฀many฀critics฀saw฀in฀it—incredible฀as฀this฀ now฀ seems—no฀ more฀ than฀ a฀ commonplace฀ cops-and-gangsters ฀story,฀and฀bemoaned฀(not฀perhaps฀entirely฀without฀a฀certain ฀malicious฀satisfaction฀in฀witnessing฀arrogance฀humiliated)฀ Welles’s฀degradation฀by฀the฀Hollywood฀system.฀This฀is฀rather฀ like฀reducing฀(Shakespeare’s)฀Macbeth฀to฀“Bad฀guy฀kills฀good฀ guy฀and฀gets฀what’s฀coming฀to฀him,”฀in฀order฀to฀dismiss฀that฀as฀ commonplace฀also.฀Macbeth฀is฀“poetic฀drama”:฀the฀drama฀and฀ the฀significance฀are฀in฀the฀poetry,฀which฀is฀not฀decorative฀clothing ฀but฀artistic฀substance.฀To฀reduce฀Macbeth฀to฀its฀plot฀is฀quite฀ simply฀to฀remove฀Shakespeare฀from฀it.฀For฀Welles,฀mise-en-scène฀ is฀the฀cinematic฀equivalent฀of฀Shakespeare’s฀poetry,฀an฀act฀of฀creation ฀rather฀than฀interpretation.฀The฀meaning฀of฀Touch฀of฀Evil฀is฀ no฀more฀reducible฀to฀its฀plot฀than฀the฀significance฀of฀Macbeth:฀ its฀meaning฀is฀created฀by฀its฀style,฀the฀movement฀of฀actors฀and฀ camera,฀the฀rhythms฀of฀editing,฀the฀recurrent฀and฀inter-relating฀ 169 welles,฀shakespeare฀and฀webster image-patterns,฀that฀together฀build฀up฀a฀consistent฀and฀coherent ฀world,฀not฀simply฀in฀the฀atmospheric฀sense,฀but฀in฀terms฀of฀ a฀system฀of฀values,฀the฀embodiment฀of฀a฀view฀of฀existence. ฀ Not฀that฀plot฀is฀irrelevant฀to฀Touch฀of฀Evil฀(any฀more฀than฀to฀ Macbeth):฀I฀am฀not฀arguing฀for฀any฀“pure฀form”฀aesthetic฀nonsense .฀It฀is฀the฀case฀that฀any฀commonplace฀plot฀or฀situation,฀falling ฀into฀the฀right฀hands฀at฀the฀right฀time,฀is฀capable฀of฀transformation ฀into฀great฀art.฀(The฀converse฀is฀offered฀by...