Touch of Evil

Starring: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Dennis Weaver
Directed by: Orson Welles
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller
1958

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A narcotics officer (Charlton Heston) and his wife (Janet Leigh) get caught up in a murder case on the U.S.-Mexican border and confront a corrupt cop (Orson Welles) leading the investigation.

Review:

Tim: Orson Welles' Touch of Evil has been called perhaps the greatest B movie ever made. It is a classic, beloved film. I have to disagree. I thought this film was entertaining and finely acted, but it was missing something. This is a good movie, but not much more. I am surprised people think it is particularly remarkable. Yes, there are some terrific moments, but some weaker ones as well.

I think the biggest flaw with this film are that characters take actions which seem to be so opposite of the logical, intelligent choices. Early on, Janet Leigh decides to follow a shady looking Mexican man to a dangerous, isolated location because he has a "message" for her husband. This just doesn't make sense. Later, when Leigh is being spied upon in her hotel room, she just stands there yelling, instead of ducking away from the window (I will admit that I absolutely love that she chucks the lightbulb into the peeper's room). Then, she withholds information from her husband, leading him to make the boneheaded move of leaving her all alone in an isolated, seedy motel room. These poor decisions took me out of the film.

I also thought the movie dragged in a few places. The scenes with Janet Leigh in the motel with the music playing felt like they took forever to progress. Really, all the motel scenes needed to be wrapped up quicker. Charlton Heston also has a number of scenes where I either completely disagreed with his decision making, or wished he would just make quicker decisions.

The cast is indeed, fairly strong. I didn't exactly buy Charlton Heston as a Mexican, but he gives a mostly good performance. Besides his character making poor decisions, Heston does make a believable narcotics officer. Janet Leigh was fine as his wife, but I didn't love her performance. I thought she was decent, but not excellent. The best performance of the film is by Orson Welles, who gives an unforgettable, mesmerizing performance as the corrupt police captain Hank Quinlan. Welles appears as an overweight, beat down, tired man hanging onto his reputation by a very thin thread. I couldn't take my eyes off Welles- his every movement and word was impressive and larger-than-life. He was truly excellent in this move.

I know I am being more harsh towards Touch of Evil than many critics and movie fans. I actually did enjoy this thrilling mystery, and I thought the story was indeed interesting. However, the movie as a whole didn't feel complete to me. I felt like it was a flawed, but still good movie. It didn't make the necessary emotional or intellectual impact. While this is a good movie, it's not up to par with similar classics of the 50s.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Citizen Kane, The Third Man