{"id":5588,"date":"2015-07-10T12:05:52","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T11:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/?p=5588"},"modified":"2015-07-10T12:06:41","modified_gmt":"2015-07-10T11:06:41","slug":"touch-of-evil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2015\/07\/10\/touch-of-evil\/","title":{"rendered":"Touch of Evil"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Touch<\/a>
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Touch of Evil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

\nFormat:<\/B> Cinema

\nRelease date:<\/B> 10 July 2015

\nDistributor:<\/B> BFI

\nDirector:<\/B> Orson Welles

\nWriter:<\/B> Orson Welles

\nBased on Badge of Evil<\/i> by:<\/B> Whit Masterson

\nCast:<\/B> Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles

\nUSA 1958

\n110 mins\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Notoriety has long swirled around Touch of Evil<\/I>, Orson Welles\u2019s 1958 film noir, a box-office failure in the US that famously ended his Hollywood career. But it has since become much admired for its often emulated long take, which masterfully introduces us to the dusty town on the Mexican border in which the story is set. <\/p>\n

In the dramatic opening scene, we see a bomb placed underneath a convertible, before the camera pulls away to soar over the streets of the town, following not only the movements of the car, but also the newlyweds whose lives are about to be derailed when the bomb explodes on the American side, killing a local construction magnate and a strip club dancer. The scene is beautifully orchestrated, with stunning sound design. Music pours out of the bars that the couple stroll past, the sound of guitars and jazz flowing into rock and roll, evoking the sultry, sweaty streets of the south, adding a risqu\u00e9, decadent feel that is echoed throughout the film. <\/p>\n

The murder pits two very different law enforcement officers against each other. Vargas (Charlton Heston) is the newly married, upstanding man who\u2019s successfully targeted one of the biggest drug gangs in Mexico; Quinlan, overweight, dishevelled, puffy-eyed, is the revered cop who never fails to get his man, even if it means breaking the law, his convictions based \u2018on intuition, rather than fact\u2019. The murder victim is barely relevant to the unfolding plot; rather, the killing is the catalyst that turns the crime thriller into a dark, brooding meditation on good versus evil.<\/p>\n

Caught in the middle is Susan Vargas (Janet Leigh), who becomes a victim of both Quinlan and the Mexican gang, who are now on the same side in their war against Vargas. The crime family is led by the unassuming, overweight Joe Gardi (Akim Tamaroff), who has a gang of young thugs in black leather jackets to carry out his dirty work. Susan starts out as a tough broad in pearls and cashmere sweater, but when they hound her in a deserted motel she\u2019s no match for them. In a twisted party scene, the threat of sexual violence, with its racial undertones, pulsates to the sound of the rockabilly music piped through the motel. <\/p>\n

Touch of Evil<\/I> deserves to be watched multiple times, not for the story, but to absorb its brilliance and audacity. The cinematography is a work of art, a virtuoso example of the noir aesthetic, using angles and lighting to heighten the tension. Quinlan looms above the camera, the sweat on his meaty face almost palpable. In one shot his menacing shadow, thrown up against a wall, stalks Vargas as he walks away down a dark road. When Gardi meets his fate, the camerawork and editing are dizzying, the tension and drama escalated by the screeching jazz horns. <\/p>\n

There are some weaknesses in the performances by Heston (ignoring the fact that he is, of course, not Mexican) and Leigh, though Marlene Dietrich as the fortune teller who predicts Quinlan\u2019s demise is seductive as always. Joseph Calleia also deserves mention as the tragic sergeant devoted to Quinlan, who will later pay a horrible price. While there is undoubtedly a hint of the B-movie at times, it\u2019s a masterpiece of the noir genre, one of the last true great films of that era, and a fantastic turn by Welles.<\/p>\n

Creative control of the film was taken away from the director by Universal, who released a botched version of the film; after seeing it, Welles penned a 58-page memo detailing his desired changes. In 1998, it was re-cut by editor and sound designer Walter Murch, who tried to incorporate as many of Welles\u2019s instructions as possible. It\u2019s a thing of beauty. <\/p>\n

Sarah Cronin<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n

Watch the trailer:<\/B><\/p>\n