Touch of Evil

The story goes that it was Charlton Heston that pulled the strings to enable Orson Welles to direct Touch of Evil, his last Hollywood film. If that were the only good thing about Heston's legacy, that might be enough, as Touch of Evil, one of the last films that can be labeled "film noir," is a strange and wonderful film. Apparently Heston was pursued to play the lead, and Welles had been cast as an actor. Heston suggested that Welles also direct (no doubt so he would have the chance to work with a legend) and Universal, eager to have Heston, agreed.

If you can get past that Heston plays a Mexican, one of the least likely actors to assume such a role, Touch of Evil offers many rewards. Heston's skin is darkened and he wears a big black mustache, but he doesn't even try a Spanish accent.

The story is a seamy one, told on border town on both the U.S. and Mexican side. "A border town brings out the worst in a country," Heston says. The film begins with a famous three-minute long single take tracking shot, which commences with a shadowy figure planting a bomb underneath a car. We then follow the car as it passes Heston walking down the street with his new wife, Janet Leigh. They catch up with the car at the border crossing, and then moments later the car explodes. Heston plays a Mexican legal official, who offers his assistance to the U.S. officials, foremost among them Hank Quinlan, a hulking sheriff embodied by Welles as a corpulent, unshaven behemoth who oozes corruption out of every pore.

Welles is seen as a great cop by his associates, as he always gets his man. Heston discovers, though, that this is usually through planted evidence. As he tries to get the goods on Welles, the sheriff enlists Heston's nemesis, played by Akim Tamiroff, to snatch Leigh from a woebegone motel and frame her on drug charges.

This film was meant to be a B-picture, and that's what it was released as, a second-feature on a double-bill. Universal recut the picture, much to Welles consternation, and he sent a long memo instructing what he thought should be done. In 1998 the film was restored to Welles' specifications, most notably moving the credits away from the opening tracking shot.

Touch of Evil has a hallucinatory quality. There are some scenes that seem to come from nightmares, especially the scenes in which Leigh is trapped in the motel. Dennis Weaver has a surreal role as a night clerk. Much of the film, especially the scenes with Welles in them, are shot from a low angle, to make him appear even larger than he is. This is used to brilliant effect in a scene in which Welles strangles a man to death.

Also appearing in the film is Marlene Dietrich, as a madame who Welles loves. She has a couple of the most famous lines from the film, such as "Your future is all used up," and the closing line, "He was some kind of a man. What does it matter what you say about people?"