#64: TOUCH OF EVIL (1958)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

9

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Never

BEST SEQUENCE

The scene in which Quinlan (Orson Welles) ties up some loose ends

BEST LINE

• Quinlan: "Come on, read my future for me."
• Tana: "You haven't got any."
• Quinlan: "Hmm? What do you mean?"
• Tana: "Your future's all used up."

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

95%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"Artistically innovative and emotionally gripping, Orson Welles' classic noir is a visual treat, as well as a dark, sinister thriller."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"A stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a Mexican border town."

DIRECTOR

Orson Welles

MAIN CAST

Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh

THOUGHTS

• I haven't seen much of Orson Welles' directorial output; just this and Citizen Kane, which, to be perfectly candid, I found underwhelming when I saw it for the first time just a few short years ago (but I plan on giving it a revisit at some point, maybe it just didn't click with me the first time). Therefore, Touch of Evil is now my favourite Orson Welles movie, and deservedly so - in all its dark twistiness, it's extremely entertaining
• Probably best known for its opening tracking shot depicting a car bomb being planted and following the path of that car until it eventually explodes. Nearly 3 1/2 minutes long and uninterrupted by any cuts, it's a brilliant start to the movie, placing us smack dab in the centre of the action right away. And beyond that great opening, I was pleased to discover that the rest of the movie is equally striking. Full of skewed camera angles, extreme closeups and even more long single-take scenes, the innovative camerawork completely absorbed me into the setting and the story. At times it felt like the camera was dancing with the characters onscreen. The use of light and shadow was also pretty remarkable
• And if this is my favourite movie directed by Orson Welles, it's also my favourite onscreen performance by him. I liked him a lot in The Third Man, making a huge impact with relatively little screen time, but I liked his performance as corrupt cop Hank Quinlan even better. He was completely unafraid to make himself as unappealing as possible, and I'm reminded of the big bags under his beady little eyes and the soggy cigars he smokes throughout the film
• Terrific climax to the movie, too, kept me on the edge of my seat
• Janet Leigh is very good in this movie, and we'll be talking about her again much, much later. When taking into consideration this movie as well as Psycho (which I believe is her only other appearance on the list), we come to realize that she maybe should have tried to stay away from motels
• This movie's reputation is tarnished somewhat by a casting choice which really wouldn't fly in present day. Welles rewrote the movie's protagonist to be Mexican as opposed to the American character found in the source novel. This character, Miguel 'Mike' Vargas, is honest and virtuous, taking on the corrupt, racist, and white American cop, Quinlan. However, while I believe Welles' heart was in the right place to incorporate racial politics into his film, the casting of Charlton Heston under a lot of makeup as Vargas definitely undermines some of the good, at least in viewing the movie through a modern lens
• Tagline, as seen on the poster: "THE STRANGEST VENGEANCE EVER PLANNED!" - maybe the worst tagline of any movie I've reviewed so far?

Up next: And now we pivot to a movie with one of the best taglines I can think of. One of my favourites, from 1962, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? And that tagline? "Sister, sister, oh so fair, why is there blood all over your hair?"