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Plot:
A stunning portrait of corruption and abuse of power, Touch of Evil gives Orson Welles a broad remit to flourish his directorial genius. Opening with an unseen man setting the timer on an explosive de...( read more 
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ONLINE NOWRecent Reviews
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MCT:August 6, 2008
Un autre des films de Welles massacrés par les studios, mais heureusement remonté selon la vision originale du réalisateur. Une histoire de corruption policière dans le style du film noir, interprétée avec beaucoup de talent par Welles lui-même dans le rôle de Quinlan, un policier ventru et désagréable. Chapeau à l'équipe de maquillage et de costumes pour lui avoir donné cette apparence rebutante qui fait le succès du personnage.
L'histoire est classique; on est en terrain connu la plupart du temps. C'est par sa réalisation léchée et ses prouesses techniques que Welles se démarque. Le plan séquence de quatre minutes qui ouvre le film donne tout de suite la mesure. L'éclairage est également très soigné. Welles s'assure de tirer de chaque scène un maximum d'efficacité. Les personnages sont à la fois ridicules et attachants, leurs comportements étranges mais divertissants. Il y a dans ce film quelque chose de caricatural qui empêche de le prendre tout à fait au sérieux, mais c'est tout de même un coup de maître. -
MCT:July 23, 2008Fine film noir about corruption set at the US/Mexico border. The leads all give fine performances, my only complaint is that some of the side characters felt a bit cartoony.
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MCT:July 20, 2008This film, written and directed by Orson Welles, is one of the last example of film noir from the classic period. It tells the story about a car that travels from Mexico to the United States and blows up due to a bomb in the process. Authorities from both countries investigate. There's way more too it than that, but revealing much more might ruin the plot. I had very high expectations for this film and while the plot was good, it was far less interesting than film noirs such as The Maltese Falcon and Sunset Boulevard.
In addition to writing and directing the film, Orson Welles also acts in it. He's more of a supporting character, but still plays a fairly significant role. Although Welles is generally regarded as one of the greatest directors ever, his acting actually isn't all that bad and it wasn't here either. The film stars Charlton Heston who plays a Mexican. Heston is not Mexican and only comes off as somewhat believable as a Mexican. He wears a mustache but that doesn't really help. He does a good job acting, but he looks more like Clark Gable than he does Mexican. The film also stars Janet Leigh who plays Heston's wife. She didn't really do all that much, but she did it well enough. She was more interesting in her role in Psycho, but she had a lot more important role in that film. Marlene Dietrich has a small part in this film, but it's not significant enough to comment on.
This wasn't bad, but didn't come of as overly-great either. Perhaps my expectations were too high or perhaps I've seen to many film noirs that I liked better than this one. Modern-day critics say it's great so maybe I'm missing something.
73.5/100
C
UP NEXT: A film I've been waiting almost three months to see - 12 Angry Men. -
MCT:June 13, 2008My all-time favorite Orson Welles movie. Sure, it has Charlton Heston playing a Mexican with an American accent, but otherwise it works.
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MCT:June 3, 2008
Même si Touch of Evil recèle, à mon avis, beaucoup d'inconsistances dans la globalité du scénario, il n'en demeure pas moins qu'il s'agit là d'un des pionners du thriller noir. Les dialogues sont très bien travaillés, et il va sans dire que la musique est, par moment, si sublime qu'on en vient à excuser certaines réactions étranges chez les personnages. Orson Welles, Charlton Heston et Janet Leigh se passent tour à tour le flambeau du spotlight et se relayent pour nous offrir trois personnages colorés (mais, avouons-le tout de même, stéréotypés) qui égayent constamment l'intrigue.
Ah, et quel plan séquence au début... Wow. Astonishing. -
MCT:May 29, 2008
If anyone other than Charlton Heston had been cast in the lead role, this would be one of the greatest films of all time. It's great to look at.
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MCT:May 20, 2008
Considered the last film-noir, Orson Welles directs and stars in this display of corruption and deception. The story opens when a bomb is placed in a car as it makes it's way from Mexico to the United States. The bomb goes off and it becomes an international case which involves both Mexican officer Vargas (Heston) and bulky American sheriff Quinlan (Welles), as they try to round up the suspects. A Mexican man becomes the accused of the crime and brings out racial tension between the policemen, that forces Quinlan into dirty cop work. Seen as a respected and honest Sheriff due to his perfect record, he's able to bend the rules and abuse his power, while nobody has the courage to confront him...until Vargas catches him planting evidence. Friction amongst the two causes things to get ugly, as Quinlan does whatever it takes to cover up his wicked ways, even if it means murder. Slow moving and hard to comprehend at first, it was difficult to grasp and enjoy. The movie takes awhile to really get going, but it does in a big way once we see the battle of wits between the main leads start to brew, and the best of the performances come out. Orson Welles becomes a mammoth figure both literally and figuratively by the end and Charlton Heston has good charisma as the protagonistic, honest cop. While not a terribly entertaining movie, it seems to be one that is most appreciated by the end, when everything can be evaluated, and in this case, we see a bold message of how a man can twist justice if put in a powerful position. Certainly a good movie overall, but this might actually be even more enjoyable the second time around.
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MCT:May 12, 2008
A policeman's job is only easy in a police state.
This is an amazing film - excellent acting, direction, dialogue - I highly recommend it. -
MCT:April 11, 2008
Another all time classic but you have to get over the idea of Charlton Heston as a 6 foot 4 mexican with no trace of an accent. Appart from that it's mega. Orson Welles went through hell with the studios to get the freedom to direct this the way he wanted but it was worth it (get the directors cut)
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MCT:April 11, 2008
According to some scholars, the last work of the film-noir golden age. Orson Welles takes Whit Masterson's simple story of murder and corruption on the mexican-american border and improves it, making it a feast for the eyes, starting with a lenghty travelling shot. Russel Metty's striking photography and Henry Mancini's snappy score are major points, as well as the acting department, led by none other than Welles, as the crooked cop, funny appearences by Dennis Weaver and Akim Tamiroff and Charlton Heston as a mexican, which might be odd, but he did a very good job. A cinematic tour de force.
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MCT:April 8, 2008
orson welles' "touch of evil" is dubbed as the last classic film noir...as a matter of fact, it's doubtfully also a mixture of gangster flick aura and noirish decadence, but also an action flick with heroic charlton heston to rescue the victimized petitie female janet leigh to enhance his grandeur machismo. the pastiche of three gendres accomplishes an innovative masterpiece.
the storyline is multi-layered, outsetting with an explosive bomb hidden over the trunk to blow off an important govorment officier, and the novelity of ticking tempo is grapplingly crispy. then non mexican-looking charlton heston's vargas appears with his blonde wife janet leigh, commented in the beginning with "non of them look mexican" as the sarcastic undertone. then orson welles dominates the screen with his obsese rotten copper quinlan, also intertwined with the brutish cocaine boss with a laughable wig to cover up his botchy bald.
to be faithful to the action cinema dualism of hero/villain, against roles like quinlan and cocaine boss are all made clusmsily awkward, then heston's decent guy vargas emerges as dashing and masculine with a handsome mustache. to constrain the just vargas, the cocaine gang frame vargas' wife with narcotic intoxication, and that scenario has a sub-taste of modern narcotic cinema. supplementarily marlene dietrich also partakes in the cameo of fortune-telling gypsy woman who footnotes the doom of quilan as effective cynicism, "your future is all used up.", particularly her last line on quilan's demise. "what does it matter what you say about people?"
some criticize charlton heston's acting style and his inadequacy as mexican in it, but how about dietrich? is she conving as a german-accented gypsy? the notion of cinema thrives upon maginifed reality with delusional contortions, so naturally the inauthentic castings could be a method to emphasize the malfuntioned surroundings which permeat in the corrupted dimensions of "touch of evil", and its mythical success attributes to the hybridization of various gendres. -
MCT:April 7, 2008
The display of shadows racing and arching across the walls almost feel like it is meant to be part of some rock n' roll era, where the ample said music couls mean something in that end. The performances of the two main man were sublimely cool and yet, never ever resorting to any moral vicissitudes to create complexity, the fat man a symbol of fading and corrupt powere while the other, has to climb his own mountain. The mortal undoings of the characters really bring out a cathartic and depressing ending, with little hope and a display of the grim reality of law and order.
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MCT:April 7, 2008
Charlton Heston plays a Mexican...brilliant. Every time I see this film, I'm reminded what an absolute amazing film is.
Bless you Walter Murch -
MCT:March 29, 2008
I've heard it said that Touch of Evil, NOT Citizen Kane, is Orson Welles' greatest cinematic achievement. While I disagree with that statement I do agree that it's clearly a masterpiece of film noir, especially in the camera work. If there is a detractor here it's buying into the casting of Charlton Heston as a Mexican lawman. He's just not that convincing. Otherwise, it's one of the best representations of movie making as an art form.
*Great performances by stars on their way up, like Dennis Weaver and Janet Leigh, as well as stars on their way out, i.e. Orson Welles and Marlene Dietrich. -
MCT:March 27, 2008
Uno de los grandes policiales de la historia, y la mejor pelicula de Orson Welles en mi opinion... (me cago en ti, Ciudadano Kane). Ah, es el ultimo film noir clasico...
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MCT:March 22, 2008
Stunning film noir, Touch Of Evil has some cinematography, amazing indeed. Orson Welles is truly a genius both as an actor and as a director, some of the camerawork was just astounding. One of the most dark and captivating flicks ever made, Touch Of Evil is a masterpiece.
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MCT:February 27, 2008
"A Policeman's job is only easy in a police state."
The movie that convinced me that Orson Welles is a friggin' genius, something that had already been established with "Citizen Kane". Welles plays the bloated, bigoted and malicious police captain, and re-lapsed alcoholic, Hank Quinlan, cunningly plotting against Mexican narcotics agent Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston). Many people who talk about the movie focus on the fact that Heston plays a Mexican, but that should be inconsequential as he convincingly portrays one. Joseph Calleila was amazing as the heart-breakingly loyal partner of Quinlan's. The cast is strong and Janet Leight looks beautiful in her motel scenes, which eerily echo "Psycho" two years prior. The snappy dialogue, fast-paced plot and Noir cinematography are all great, but what stuck with me was the acting and it's excellent portrayal of how crime and police corruption are universal, not exclusive of any nation. Welles' skills shine through his direction and camera work. I enjoyed this film a lot and my admiration and respect for Welles as a Hero of Cinema increased more. -
MCT:February 5, 2008
Excellent film noir from Welles. In my opinion, more watchable than Cane. Not necessarily better made, but more watchable. Though Charlton Heston as a spanish-speaking mexican is something that is just weird.
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MCT:December 30, 2007
One of the greatest film noirs ever - from the opening shot that lasts an entire reel to the haunting final scene set against the gypsy piano, this movie makes all the right moves.
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MCT:December 8, 2007
Showy cinematic feats aside (ooh, opening shot!), the first half-hour is so front-loaded with businesslike exposition that it took me eleven tries to make it past minute 30 without falling asleep or turning it off. Imagine my joy on try 12 when things got brutal and intense around minute 45 and never let up, culminating in one of the most fascinating and hypnotic thriller climaxes committed to celluloid. In fact, it's almost a shame that the first 10 minutes get much more film buff attention than the last 10.
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MCT:December 1, 2007
Even after Orson Welles completed his famous film 'Citizen Kane', he still continued to produce excellent movies, and 'Touch of Evil' is a prime example. The film is set in a border town (the border that separates Mexico from the United States) and opens as an automobile is blown up. A murder investigation is opened, and a Mexican narcotics official named Mike Vargas (Heston) is drawn into the investigation when a Mexican national is accused of the crime. As Vargas tries to uncover what is really going on, his wife Susie (Leigh) is put in considerable danger. This complex tale of crime and police corruption is quite remarkable and regarded as the best B movie ever made. Interestingly, after Orson Welles shot and edited his cut of the movie, the studio butchered his cut, reshot some scenes, and released their own version. Welles was never satisfied with this version and wrote a 58-page memo detailing specifics of how he wanted the film to be released. In 1998, after Welles' death, the film was finally released the way he wanted it to be originally released. This is the cut I am reviewing. 'Touch of Evil' is a very good movie, but it's hard to follow and has dated pretty severely.
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MCT:November 27, 2007
A film of conviction and visual awe, yet based along a string of intangibilities that never quite add up. Touch of Evil is a film that takes so many off shoots in it's narrative that it's incoherence turns into an illogical mess. Saved only by the screen sensibilities of Welles; the director tightens the images into the bleak, offsetting nature of the noir, and combines his own character of manic subtlety into a finely tuned performance. Touch of Evil is reverence without justification, and is heralded for the wrong reasons. It should be noted, however, that the film holds what could possibly be one of the greatest opening shots in cinema. There is still much to learn from the film, from the swiveling tracking shots to the mysterious lighting, just don't take notes from the awful script.
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MCT:November 23, 2007
Wonderful camera work shot in the purest black and white...Charlton Heston is borderline ridiculous as a "Mexican detective" but fitting I suppose for his role in this idiosyncratic noir and Orson Welles is just great as a corrupt and cranky police chief but I honestly expected something a little less standard when it came to how the film ended...this movie is overrated.
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MCT:November 19, 2007
Five stars for the reconstructed director's cut. It's the kind of cool, bad-ass movie that Tarantino or Scorsese would if they were making 50's film noir.
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