Rediscovery and Loss
Welles never completed the editing of Too Much Johnson and put the footage in storage. He rediscovered the footage three decades later at his home outside of Madrid, Spain. "I can't remember whether I had it all along and dug it out of the bottom of a trunk, or whether someone brought it to me, but there it was", he later recalled. "I screened it, and it was in perfect condition, with not a scratch on it, as though it had only been through a projector once or twice before. It had a fine quality. Cotten was magnificent, and I immediately made plans to edit it and send it to Joe as a birthday present."
Welles, however, never allowed the footage to be seen publicly, stating the film would not make sense outside of the full context of the Gillette play.
In 1971, a fire broke out at Welles's home and the only known complete print of Too Much Johnson was destroyed.
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