Touch of Evil (1958)

This film, written and directed by Orson Welles, is one of the last example of film noir from the classic period. It tells the story about a car that travels from Mexico to the United States and blows up due to a bomb in the process. Authorities from both countries investigate. There's way more too it than that, but revealing much more might ruin the plot. I had very high expectations for this film and while the plot was good, it was far less interesting than film noirs such as The Maltese Falcon and Sunset Boulevard.

In addition to writing and directing the film, Orson Welles also acts in it. He's more of a supporting character, but still plays a fairly significant role. Although Welles is generally regarded as one of the greatest directors ever, his acting actually isn't all that bad and it wasn't here either. The film stars Charlton Heston who plays a Mexican. Heston is not Mexican and only comes off as somewhat believable as a Mexican. He wears a mustache but that doesn't really help. He does a good job acting, but he looks more like Clark Gable than he does Mexican. The film also stars Janet Leigh who plays Heston's wife. She didn't really do all that much, but she did it well enough. She was more interesting in her role in Psycho, but she had a lot more important role in that film. Marlene Dietrich has a small part in this film, but it's not significant enough to comment on.

This wasn't bad, but didn't come of as overly-great either. Perhaps my expectations were too high or perhaps I've seen to many film noirs that I liked better than this one. Modern-day critics say it's great so maybe I'm missing something.

73.5/100
C

UP NEXT: A film I've been waiting almost three months to see - 12 Angry Men.

I just saw this...

There's actually 3 different versions of this movie, the 1958 original, a 1976 longer version and a 1998 re-edited version that is suppose to follow a 1958, 58-page memo by Welles of how he wanted the movie to be shot. I saw the 1998 version.

The beginning shot is widely considered to be one of the greatest long shots in movie history. As per the memo, the credits were removed so the audience was able to see the everything. The credits were then added back at the end of the movie.

Unlike catbox, I thought this was great movie. I thought the acting was great and the plot was excellent. I was a little disappointed that the crazy guy didn't play a bigger part, but that's completely besides the point. And the ending was a little unexpected.

89/100

I knew it was better than my first impressions said it was. I'll have to rewatch it