Touch of Evil 1958

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• “Is this Orson Welles's best work?”

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• “Is Charlton Heston miscast as Ramon Miguel Vargas?”

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• “Is Touch of Evil a masterpiece, not merely a very good film?”

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Reviews

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• Filipe Manuel Netoon TMDB · Sep 20238/10

  **It's not Orson Welles' best work, and there are some problems and wrong choices, but it's still a worthwhile film.** One crime and two totally different men: this sentence almost sums up the entire film. Director Orson Welles is one of those monsters that we are used to having like a “sacred cow”, who turns everything he touches into gold. And really, he is responsible for great films and was an excellent artist, who understood cinema like few others did. However, in this film, his work was absolutely trampled on by stupid studio managers, and the result of this is that it was only very recently that it was possible to have access to a version of this film that was similar to what its director's creative vision was. . Just similar! And what we have here is an incredibly complex film that we cannot summarize as easily as I did: the initial crime is just the incident that triggers the action, and its relevance, we found, is really insignificant. What counts here is the struggle of personalities, the battle between the conflicting egos of two police officers who decide to solve the case, each in their own way. In fact, it is not the most appealing film that the director's career has

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• CinemaSerfon TMDB · Apr 20237/10

  We start with a man putting a bomb in a car on the Mexican side of the border. When it explodes on the American side flattening the occupants, the local "Capt. Quinlan" (Orson Welles) decides to make a bit of a cursory investigation - in cahoots with his opposite number "Vargas" (Charlton Heston). Whilst they are out doing their sleuthing, "Susan Vargas" (Janet Leigh) is lured to a meeting with "Uncle Joe" (Akim Tamiroff) where it becomes clear that her husband is on the prosecuting side of a family dispute that is putting everyone in danger - something her husband finds out shortly afterwards when he narrowly avoids an acid facial. Now "Quinlan" and his sidekick "Menzies" (Joseph Calleia) have a rather unique way of working - the former intimidates just with his presence and has the District Attorney in his pocket, but as this investigation starts to spread out the original crime pails into insignificance as "Susan" finds herself trapped in an out of town motel and the potential victim of a ghastly drug crime that brings the threads of the story - and the true criminality to light - fatally. There are five principal characters and the actors do justice to them all - the story move

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• Wuchakon TMDB · Aug 20185/10

  Welles/Heston B&W cult noir is great on a technical level, but meh as a viewing experience On the Texas border a Mexican detective (Charlton Heston) assists an American investigation into a shocking murder of an American official on the border, but he soon learns that the imposing & slovenly Sheriff (Orson Welles) is shady with a penchant for framing. Janet Leigh is on hand as the detective’s new bride, an American. “Touch of Evil” (1958) was written/directed by Welles (loosely based on a book) and has a huge reputation as a B&W noir-ish cult flick. There ARE interesting technical things going on as far as camera angles, lighting and impressive long takes (e.g. the opening sequence). It also has a notable classic cast with Leigh thoroughly stunning, not to mention Joanna Moore, Marlene Dietrich, Joi Lansing and a cameo by Zsa Zsa Gabor on the female front. Yet I otherwise found the picture talky, nigh surreal and noticeably hokey with an unengrossing story and dubious acting, e.g. the hooligan Mexicans and the eye-rolling Shakespearean lunatic “night man” (Dennis Weaver). Seriously, viewing this film is like entering Welles’ head on an acid trip. That said, the film offers quite a

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Pairings

Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.

• Double bill withThe Third Man1949
• Double bill withForce of Evil1950
• Double bill withThe Good German2006

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