Touch of Evil Reviews and Ratings


  • distortion0007
    November 29, 2009
    distortion0007
    Orson Welles's best acting (which puts it as some of the best of the best), great cinematography, and a groundbreaking (if I may use that overexploited word) story. Touch of evil is one of the first films to feature latinos as heroes and even touches on the topics of racism. But ...( read more)don't misunderstand this movie as heavy handed sermon on values, it integrates the themes of being latino into film noir format, which turns out to be great combination that can be enjoyed either for its depth or for its pure escapist value.
  • perr2fam125
    November 22, 2009
    perr2fam125
    One of the great film noirs of the 50's
  • jackgbowman
    October 26, 2009
    jackgbowman
    film Noir Orson style.
  • hayd2dq
    October 14, 2009
    hayd2dq
    This film is definitely interesting. It has an atypical plot that is entertaining. With Orson Welles as the director, you get the chance to see the amazing camera shots and that a-list acting he always provides. The attitude and tone of the film is what makes this film feel re...( read more)alistic. I had one issue though. Charlton Heston is a great actor, but it?s pretty obvious that he?s not Mexican! I can?t take him seriously in that mustache. Also, the ending is somewhat abrupt, but Marlene Dietrich makes it fabulous!! (However, it?s pretty obvious that she isn?t Mexican either.)
  • ElCochran90
    September 20, 2009
    ElCochran90
    Superb, and totally awesome and well-directed masterful thrilling film-noir, of course, starring Orson Welles and directed by him, with (A definitely unappropriate and funny Mexican) Charlton Heston performing a role genuisly.

    95/100
  • drpritch
    September 6, 2009
    drpritch
    I don't know enough film geekery to understand the historical importance of this film, but I still enjoyed it. I'm a fan of the skeptical, corrupt flavour of film noir in general, and this film holds up well.
  • StewartMc
    August 21, 2009
    StewartMc
    Excellent film noir. Great cast.
  • vertigoo
    August 14, 2009
    vertigoo
    the film starts with the best long take in the history of cinema.
  • ahhh1989
    August 9, 2009
    ahhh1989
    By far the greatest thing that Orson Welles has ever done.
  • JasonDennis91786
    August 7, 2009
    JasonDennis91786
    this was probably incredible for its day, but after being inured with crooked cop movie after crooked cop movie in my generation, this strikes me as good but not great. welles is magnificent as quinlan, however. and the movie is a bit less dated than i thought it would be.
  • jackgiantkillr
    July 26, 2009
    jackgiantkillr
    Chuck and Marlene Deitrich as Mexicans? Great cinematography. Orson Welles was a genius. this movie is farily messed up though.
  • flixsterman
    July 22, 2009
    flixsterman
    I've heard it said that Touch of Evil, NOT Citizen Kane, is Orson Welles' greatest cinematic achievement. While I'm not sure I would agree with that statement I do agree that it's clearly a masterpiece of film noir, especially in the camera work. If there is a detra...( read more)ctor here it's buying into the casting of Charlton Heston as a Mexican lawman, for me that's a bit of a stretch. Otherwise, it's one of the best representations of movie making as an art form I've ever seen. Five stars.
  • tequilamockingbird82
    July 18, 2009
    tequilamockingbird82
    Laughable tripe; I love Orson Welles as a personality and actor, but his films are extremely underwhelming. Stylistically he has lots of fun, but so much of the writing and sensibilities are so terribly dated!
  • placeinthesun455
    July 9, 2009
    placeinthesun455
    apart from (what I believe to be) a horrible casting choice in Charlton Heston, this is a pretty excellent film. Welles brilliantly portrays a despicably corrupt yet still identifiably human police captain searching for justice regardless of cost. a dark and engaging latter-day...( read more)s film noir crafted beautifully by the genius of Orson Welles with very strong writing and a (mostly) excellent cast.
  • svet4
    July 9, 2009
    svet4
    Great! Special memories watching it with Brian in New York several years ago!!!!
  • Saxia
    June 30, 2009
    Saxia
    After telling the guy in the video store that I wasn't a big fan of Film Noir, he gave me this movie. I'm still not a Noir fan, but hell, this movie was something else! It was exciting! I really got a kick out of it.
    Orson was amazing, and Marlene Dietrich: what an appearance!

    ...( read more)"He was some kind of a man... What does it matter what you say about people?"
  • onomatopee
    June 13, 2009
    onomatopee
    Touch of Evil is a nice film noir directed by Orson Welles. It's stylish and the actors are all great. It shows how the truth will always be found no matter how hard you try to hide it.
  • SummonMorphling
    June 8, 2009
    SummonMorphling
    "WELCOME STRANGER! To Picturesque Los Robles, The Paris of the Border "

    Touch of Evil is a film based on a novel by Whit Masterson, with Welles writing the fantastic screenplay and directed the film. The starting sequence on the film, which was shot in one long continuous...( read more) shoot, is Welles at his majestic best. We see a time bomb placed in the boot of a car in close- up and then as we hear footsteps running down an alley, we hear giggling at small talk between a mismatched couple coming to the car. As the cameras shows us the cars occupants get into their seats, the car pulls out from its parking spot and starts down a main road. As the car starts the short drive to the border and is stopped by border Police checking who is crossing the border, we are also witness for the first time to the couple in the car, an older man (Who the Border Police know) and a young woman, who says she can hear ticking in her head. The car is waved through, at this point in the shot, we can wee Charlton Heston as (Ramon Miguel 'Mike' Vargas) known for short as Mike and Janet Leigh as Susan Suzie Vargas, talking innocently after there recent wedding also crossing the border. They to are waved across the border as Mike (Heston) is recognized and as the young married couple continue their chat, the camera shot that started the film comes to an abrupt end with the explosion of the time bomb. This shot alone is worth watching the film and the music is brilliant by Henri Mancini.
    The basic plot-line seems a bit risqué in parts for a fifties film; Mike (Heston) is the lead investigator on the Mexican side of the border trying to catch and in prison a well-known underworld family of drug smugglers. The leader of whom Uncle Joe Grandis played with a brilliant greasy feel Akim Tamiroff. Mike is literally on the spot when the car bomb explodes and is astounded how fast Welles's character Sheriff Hank Quinlan, appears on the scene also. It is explained to him by Hank's deputy played by Joseph Calleia, Pete Menzies. Hank as a gamy leg that plays up when someone has committed a crime and then like a compass leads Hank to the culprit. A lot of the town luminaries are quickly on the scene Ray Collins as the D.A. Adair, the film blessed with a magnificent cast, from old timers like Zsa-Zsa Gabor as the strip club owner, Marlene Dietrich as Tanya (An old lover of Hanks, before he became obscenely over weight) to Dennis Weaver as the slow witted Motel Night Manager and Mort Mills as the D.A.'s assistant, Al Schwartz.
    The film doesn't actually show the scenes of hard drug use but implicates the use of Heroin on Janet Leigh's character Suzie. It also does not show any lesbian scene's but that is also leaned on very heavily giving the impression that the butch lesbian girls are drugging Suzie so that the younger members of the Mexican gang can rape her easier.
    Welles's is very good as the crooked cop Hank Quinlan who believes he is always right even when Mike (Heston) has evidence piled a foot high that he has the wrong man. Hank ignores the obvious and even plants more evidence to try one last time to get away with bending the law.
    I believe Welles's got into a big argument with the studio when they released a version they had had cut together; he never liked the original and it took over a quarter of a century to get a version approaching his vision to be released.
  • xXxXHorrorFanxXxX
    June 7, 2009
    xXxXHorrorFanxXxX
    While passing through the seedy border town of Los Robles, newlyweds Mike and Susan Vargas (Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh) witness a car bomb explosion in which Rudy Linnekar, a local construction magnate, and his female companion are killed. Suspecting that the bomb was plante...( read more)d on the Mexican side of the border and may be the work of the Grandi narcotics ring, Vargas, the Mexican head of the Pan-American Narcotics Commission, offers his assistance to the Los Robles officials investigating the case. The lead detective, the obese and lumbering Capt. Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles), rudely rebuffs Vargas' offer. However, Quinlan's partner, the loyal Sgt. Pete Menzies (Joseph Calleia), and Adair, a district attorney (Ray Collins), apologize for Quinlan's behavior and invite Vargas to observe their investigation because of his status as a highly placed Mexican government official. In the meantime, a group of young Mexican men working for "Uncle" Joe Grandi (Akim Tamiroff), a small-time crime boss with a bad toupee, bring Susan, an American, to Grandi's headquarters in a sleazy hotel. Grandi warns Susan of dire consequences if her husband continues his prosecution of Grandi's brother, an imprisoned drug dealer awaiting trial in Mexico, but Susan is unimpressed. While investigating the case on the Mexican side of the border, Quinlan visits the tawdry brothel run by Tana, a former lover (Marlene Dietrich), and the place fills him with nostalgic yearnings. Upon learning of Susan's encounter with Grandi, Vargas decides that she will be safer stashed in a motel on the American side of town while he continues working on the Linnekar case. However, unknown to Vargas, the motel is owned by Grandi, managed by a disturbed night clerk (Dennis Weaver), and in the middle of the desert. Quinlan soon tracks down a suspect, a Mexican shoe clerk who was having an affair with Linnekar's daughter, Marcia (Joanna Moore), and later married her in a secret ceremony. Sanchez (Victor Millan) claims he is innocent and appeals to Vargas for help. After a prolonged search, Quinlan declares that Menzies has found damning evidence of Sanchez's guilt concealed in a shoe box. Vargas, who had earlier seen that the box was empty, accuses Quinlan of planting dynamite in the box to frame Sanchez. Grandi approaches Quinlan to suggest that they work together to ruin Vargas and after Quinlan has downed several drinks at Grandi's prodding, they plot to destroy Vargas professionally and personally by framing Susan. Grandi's gang of young hoodlums, led by a sadistic woman clad in black leather (Mercedes McCambridge), take over the motel and accost the terrified Susan, who is shot up with drugs and then transported to a room in Grandi's hotel. When Vargas meets with Police Chief Gould and District Attorney Adair to discuss his suspicions about Quinlan, the faithful Menzies doggedly tracks down his partner to inform him of the meeting. Quinlan storms in on the meeting and, furious that Gould is not defending him, makes a show of throwing down his badge. Uncomfortable with the fact that Vargas is an outsider making accusations against a star detective, Gould and Adair placate Quinlan by telling Vargas to stay out of police business. Al Schwartz, a young assistant D.A., stands by Vargas and secretly gains him access to Quinlan's case files, which strongly suggest that Quinlan, tortured by the fact that he was unable to find enough evidence to convict the suspect who strangled his wife, has been framing suspects for years. Unable to accept that his partner and best friend is crooked, Menzies attempts to defend Quinlan. Unable to reach Susan by phone, Vargas finally makes it to the motel to find the night clerk sitting in the dark and seemingly speechless with fear. To Vargas' horror, all that remains in Susan's room are the stench of marijuana smoke and the debris of a wild party. Meanwhile, Quinlan arrives at Grandi's hotel and enters the room where Susan lies unconscious, the smell of marijuana clinging to the clothing strewn about the floor. After forcing Grandi at gunpoint to telephone Menzies to report that he has found Vargas' wife surrounded by evidence of a drug party, Quinlan, who wants to ensure that he will not be a victim of blackmail, strangles Grandi with one of Susan's stockings. Soon after, Vargas, who has launched a desperate search for his wife, learns that Susan has been jailed on suspicion of drug use, prostitution and the murder of Grandi. Knowing that Quinlan is behind the frame-up and feeling helpless to stop him, Vargas explodes with rage, but Menzies takes him aside and reveals that he found Quinlan's cane at the murder scene. Although he is devastated by the fall of his idol, Menzies agrees to help Vargas amass more incontrovertible evidence of Quinlan's criminal activities and consents to being wired in the hopes that Quinlan will confess to his trusted partner. Quinlan, still on a binge, has holed up at Tana's place where, in a drunken haze, he asks her to read his fortune. Tana, however, sadly declares that his future is "all used up" and advises him to go home. As he reels out the door, Quinlan is confronted by Menzies, who begins asking questions about the Grandi murder while, nearby, Vargas records the conversation. As they walk toward a bridge spanning a murky canal, Menzies accuses Quinlan of betraying his loyalty by setting him up as the stooge who always found the planted evidence. The argument is interrupted when Quinlan hears the sound of their voices on Vargas' tape and finally realizes that Menzies is wired. When Menzies tries to stop Quinlan from harming Vargas, who is clinging to the side of the bridge, Quinlan shoots him and then, in shock at what he has done, stumbles down to the canal to wash the blood from his hands. Vargas confronts Quinlan with the evidence he now has on tape, and Quinlan prepares to kill him so that he can pin the Menzies murder on him. However, Menzies, on the brink of death, manages to crawl to the edge of the bridge and shoot Quinlan. Schwartz arrives with Susan, who has been released from jail, and Vargas departs to take her home to Mexico City, knowing that he is leaving behind enough evidence to prove that Quinlan framed Susan, Sanchez and many others. Ironically, however, Sanchez has ended up confessing to the murder of Rudy Linnekar. Tana arrives at the edge of the canal and gazing with Schwartz at Quinlan's large frame floating in the black water, she sadly remarks that Quinlan was "some kind of a man."
  • archcathedral1
    June 1, 2009
    archcathedral1
    Orson Welles is fucking brilliant
  • Wileoese
    April 18, 2009
    Wileoese
    An overated good cop vs bad cop movie. Orsen Wells really let himself go he looks like he's on deats door.
  • kurosawian
    April 9, 2009
    kurosawian
    Welles' savage end to the film noir. Astonishing cinematography with bold and dark subject matter. Welles himself gives us an unforgettably unflattering role.
  • macabrescribe
    April 6, 2009
    macabrescribe
    One great example of noir. I loved Dietrich, as always. Even Welles grew on me.
  • DwightWard
    April 5, 2009
    DwightWard
    Great film, with top performance and a genius script, one of the first and best corrupt cop drama.
  • latinorick71
    April 5, 2009
    latinorick71
    not as great as the critcs claim it is but i was entertained and charlton heston was a hoot.
  • spaulsson
    March 17, 2009
    spaulsson
    Finally I get to use the phrase "film noir" in one of my reviews - oh, how I've longed. Joking aside, I saw this as part of a project to view classic films, and this is certainly one of them. Orson Welles has been praised for this crime drama, but I can't understand how it can be...( read more) be so loved even today. Then again, I don't like these kind of stories, and I must admit that the photography and acting is quite good. Some parts is also thrilling. I wouldn't recommend anyone seeing it though, except perhaps if they want to study the history of cinema, because there are many movies today that is more entertaining than this.
  • denebkaitos
    March 14, 2009
    denebkaitos
    The only reason it looses 1/2 a star is because of the edited version floating around. This movie is the last of the great film noir. The use of lighting captures the imagination and creates a mood that is unprecedented.
  • dcrees
    February 28, 2009
    dcrees
    Blah blah blah. I just can't get into Orsen Wells films. I'll admit that it was shot interestingly, and Charlton Heston was a hoot as a mexican. But I just don't give a crap about this movie.
  • robfearon
    February 26, 2009
    robfearon
    Filled with interesting characters, Touch of Evil is playfully irreverent.
  • madhuriagrawal
    February 26, 2009
    madhuriagrawal
    A brilliant film-noir. An unrecognizable Orson Welles plays a ruthless policeman who can only be bothered with bringing the guilty to the (electric) chair, rather than playing within legal boundaries. When faced with opposition, he only walks in further from the legal way, at som...( read more)e point losing view of his objective and his means. It is difficult to determine when this degenerate 'honest' policeman slides into what he has been fighting against. All the time, you sense he is right, but his means make it all wrong.
    I loved the dark alleys, the nocturnal chases, the shady hotels (Ritz!) and motels, and the feel of the very immoral border town.
  • MrLJM
    February 21, 2009
    MrLJM
    If you see this film, try and see the version which is closer to what Orson Welles intended. It's much better (obviously). So be careful which one you by. While you wouldn't think Charlton Heston would be good as a Mexican, he actually is quite good. As usual with Welles, the dir...( read more)ection and camerawork is astounding. Dark and quite disturbing in places. Welles plays his character Quinlan very well and Janet Leigh fills in effectively as the "damsel in distress".
  • sanjurosamurai
    February 12, 2009
    sanjurosamurai
    orson wells has given us some of the most iconic characters in film history, from charles foster kane to harry lime, and in touch of evil he gives us hank quinlin. despite some significant weight gain and some extra padding that made wells nearly unrecognizable, his performance ...( read more)was excellent. we also get great performances from heston and leigh, and the cinematography was haunting bearing similarity to the camera work of greg toland in citizen kane. the opening sequence is one of the most effectively shot opening scenes that i have ever seen, and touch of evil is a classic noir.
  • battleaxeofdoom
    February 11, 2009
    battleaxeofdoom
    Just like every other film noir every made, except for the intro which was pretty amazing. long takes rule
  • DoctorXQuinzel
    January 12, 2009
    DoctorXQuinzel
    Welles is really evil. It was a nice film, really intriguing story.
  • sononothing
    January 6, 2009
    sononothing
    Touch of Evil is the Orson Welles masterpiece that fell into his lap and was then subsequently taken away by the studio and recut and reshot to their specifications. It would be forty years before Welles true vision was recreated based on a 53 page memo he sent to Universal in 19...( read more)58 airing his concerns over the changes.

    The film is opens with a car bomb exploding just as it leaves Mexico for the United States. A well respected Mexican drug enforcement agent names Vargas (Charlton Heston) is on his honeymoon with his new American bride Susie (Janet Leigh) and assists in the investigation that is headed by the legendary detective Hank Quinlan. As Vargas investigates the explosion and Quinlan's subsequent bending of the law his wife is being harassed and kidnapped by members of the Mexican crime family he plans on testifying against later in that week in Mexico City.

    What Welles created with Touch of Evil was the last noir picture. Most of the action occurs in the dark with shadows being most of the scenery and the flashing lights of Mexican burlesque halls filling the slummy rooms throughout the film. Although it's hard to accept Charlton Heston as a Mexican he still does a fine job as Vargas, playing a game of cat and mouse with Welles as Quinlan. Quinlan is the anti-Charles Foster Kane. Fat, old, ugly he's like a lumbering pig whose only goal is to finish cases no matter what the cost. He doesn't do it for money: he does it for himself.

    It's been said that Orson Welles peaked with Citizen Kane. That may be true, but Touch of Evil gives us the glimmer of that bright young man who went to Hollywood to make his kind of movies. Was he ahead of his time? Certainly.
  • MagicButterfly
    January 2, 2009
    MagicButterfly
    A masterfully done movie. Some parts in the beginning are frustratingly difficult to watch-- there's so much happening in this movie that it's hard to follow-- but once it falls into line it's great. Welles plays a great role, while Heston is watchable, if miscast. He'll alway...( read more)s have Moses though.
  • johnredmond15
    December 22, 2008
    johnredmond15
    Orsene Welles is a genius. Nuf said.
  • mustardnoize
    December 6, 2008
    mustardnoize
    Yet another reason why Orson Welles should be revered as one of Hollywood's great directors. This may be the best "corrupt cop" movie of all; detective Quinlan (played expertly by Welles himself) is, as one character puts it, a "great detective...and a lousy c...( read more)op." The film opens with one of the most famous shots in cinema, that of a long, tracking crane shot that continues for more than three minutes without cutting. Of particular note is Welles' excellent light and shadow cinematography, heavily influenced by German expressionism, and the fantastic use of sound (both also great features of his "Citizen Kane"), including the compelling "beat" soundtrack by Henry Mancini. This film, considered by many critics to be the last classic film noir, is in fact a good 8 to 10 years ahead of its time, perhaps indicating that classic period noir had finally run its course, returning to the place from which it had sprung, shown in this film as being quite literally in the garbage-strewn gutter ("where it belongs," according to the famous Chandler quote). Highly recommended.
  • engrymfilm
    November 21, 2008
    engrymfilm
    Aside from the obvious well done writing, editing and shots way ahead of its time, I'd have to say what I enjoyed most was how fat Orson Welles was and how badly "Mexican" Charlton Heston looked.
  • nickg329
    November 11, 2008
    nickg329
    More enjoyable than Citizen Kane and definitely a good movie, especially the opening scene. There are much better film noirs out there though.
  • closedmouth
    November 9, 2008
    closedmouth
    Didn't think much of this at all until I read tedg's comment. One I'll have to rewatch.