TOUCH OF EVIL (1958) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1998 Ted Prigge
Director: Orson Welles Writers: Paul Monash and Orson Welles (based on the novel by Whit Masterson) Starring: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Mort Mills, Joanna Cook Moore, Ray Collins, Marleine Dietrich, Keenan Wynn, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Joseph Cotten
Orson Welle's "Touch of Evil" and "Citizen Kane" are worlds apart as films. One's a hard-boiled old-school piece of pulp; the other is an ingenius portrayal of a seriously flawed man and the deconstruction of his myth. Both are celebrated, but "Kane" has been dubbed the Greatest Film of All Time by many critics (not believing I can rank any film as the "Greatest," I refer to it as "possibly..."), while "Touch of Evil"'s just celebrated. One would almost feel inclined to diss it a bit, since it is NOT "Kane," but if you, like me, are a believer in the critiquing rule that a director's films are all measured on their own merits, you won't.
Orson directed, co-wrote, and starred in this black and white, moody little piece of pulp as an obligation to a studio (who first had him co-starring, but then forced him to write and direct it against his will), but, as John Travolta said in "Get Shorty" (where he watched it for a scene), sometimes you do your best work when you have a gun against your head. It's another one of those films, like "Chinatown" and "The Maltese Falcon," where all the elements of film storytelling come into perfect or near-perfect balance with one another, creating a satisfying and even rewarding film. I mean, this is not JUST a piece of pulp: it has some serious dramatic undertones to it that many pulp films don't posess.
"Touch of Evil" takes place around the American/Mexican border and centers around a mexican detective, Ramon Miguel "Mike" Vargas (get this: Charlton Heston - yeah, HE looks mexican), who becomes involved in the murder of a border town mayor who was blown up almost on the border due to a bomb placed on his car in Mexico. Vargas is merely an "observer" to the detective work done by the area's celebritated detective, Hank Quinlan (Orson - at his most obese), a beastly man with a gimpy leg which he says gives him intuition, which he uses to solve crimes. When questioned how he thinks he solved the murder right away, he says his leg told him.
Also in the story is Mike's new wife, an american gal named Susan (Janet Leigh, three years before "Psycho"), a buxom but fiercely strong woman who gets involved with a border town kinda mafia king, "Uncle Joe" Grandi (Akim Tamiroff), who wants to screw over Mike due to some past instances. Although her opening scenes show a very strong will on her part, she later becomes more essential to the film as an innocent victim, and pawn in the screwing over of Mike.
Soon into the investigation, Mike discovers that Quinlan has set up a boy to take the fall for the murder by planting evidence. Knowing for sure that he did it, Mike becomes enraged with Hank, and soon starts spreading bad gossip as well as doing some little investigating of his own, discovering that Hank, a major celebrity in the area, has been planting evidence for his entire career. Soon a desperate Hank joins up with the weazel-like Grandi in setting up a scandal involving Susan and some weed (which had to be kinda risque for the time).
What makes this film so great though? Is it the story? The plot is very neat, with very little plot holes, and even some good old characterization. But, as the old saying goes, it's not what you tell but how. Welles has really created a wonderful little pot-boiler here, setting up atmosphere, deepening the characters, touching on themes, and, of course, doing some really nifty camerawork that's still astounding.
A lot of this film takes place at night, and the cinematography deftly captures the seedy world of a border town which thrives at night. Scenes are shot showing gorgeously ominous shadows lurking eveywhere, and the darkness even conceals some parts of the town. One of the best scenes in the movie involves a murder shot in a room where a light flashes up and down, creating tension throughout. Even if the story wasn't good, the film would still be great to look at.
The characters are very well-drawn, and surprisingly effectively portrayed by the actors who play them. While Mike, who is out to seek the truth, but finds he has to do both while saving his wife, is the lead character, he is not who the film is about (FYI, Charlton Heston gives one of his best performances in this film - I was shocked to see how good he was, as he is usually kinda hokey). Hank is the target of the film, as he is a fallen man who took the wrong course in life, has lived happily with it, and has now found himself taking the plunge. The film shows his past life in the form of a woman he once knew (played in a "guest appearance" by Marlene Dietrich), who symbolically mocks his weight ("You shoulda laid off those candy bars"). Perhaps he was tempted by the devil or at least by evil, and, as all evil deeds end up, is finally learning the price of his choice. In the film's final moments, we see him contemplating his choice, but thinking about far too late in his life to turn back.
The film not only touches on this, but on police corruption, and the search for truth. Throughout the latter part of the film, Hank's giddy old buddy Pete (Joseph Calleia) tries to swade Mike from his exposing Hank for what he is as he will destroy him as a man. The film touches on the question between truth or living with a lie, but says that in all cases, truth must be told eventually, or all else that comes after will be plagued.
And what would a Welles film be without cool camera tricks. "Citizen Kane" was one of the first films to use innovative camera tricks in such large capacity which helps the storytelling, and "Touch of Evil" is no different. Every shot is brilliantly laid-out, and filled with all the right atmosphere. In fact, the opening shot is one of the top ten greatest openings I've ever seen: a 3 1/2 minute long un-broken steadicam shot which is one of the first of its kind (the latest incarnations of this were in Altman's "The Player," and Anderson's "Boogie Nights"). With a brilliant, pulsating, highly percussive scorse by the great Henry Mancini, this film is not just brilliantly written and acted, but brilliantly directed.
"Touch of Evil" may not be a "Citizen Kane" (it's deconstruction of Hank is hardly up to the brilliance of the deconstruction of Charles Foster Kane), but it's one of the best examples of film pulp/film noir of all time, and an example of how directors CAN make brilliance under intense studio pressure (in fact, in "Ed Wood," Welles - played by uncannily Vincent D'Onofrio - bitches about how he has to make a film starring Charlton Heston as a mexican). "Touch of Evil" may not be a "Kane," but on its own, it's still a work of a genius filmcraftsman.
MY RATING (out of 4): ****
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