There are some great films that are considered great for the wrong reasons, not always related to their quality. Touch of Evil, the 1958 noir thriller directed by Orson Welles, is one such example. Its good reputation among film critics and aficionados comes from the background, not from the film itself. The simple fact that it was directed by the great Orson Welles is grounds for respect. But the story behind the scenes suggests a 'great' film. In the early stages of production, Welles was originally hired only for the acting part. At the insistence of his colleague Charlton Heston, Universal agreed to allow Welles not only to direct but also to re-write the original script by Paul Monash. The result was an unusual film that didn't particularly impress studio bosses, so they ordered Touch of Evil to be re-edited. Welles was dissatisfied with their decision and practically disowned the film, creating another myth about a great masterpiece ruined by a shortsighted, conservative studio establishment that didn't understand true Art.
The film was actually based on Badge of Evil, an obscure pulp novel by Whit Masterson. The complicated plot takes place in Los Robles, a seedy town on the U.S./Mexican border. Ramón Miguel 'Mike' Vargas (played by Heston) is a top-ranking Mexican anti-narcotics policeman who has just dealt a spectacular blow to the Grandis, a powerful group of narcotic smugglers. Before he testifies, he plans to enjoy a honeymoon with his beautiful American wife Susan (played by Janet Leigh). They are monitored by 'Uncle Joe' Grandi (played by Akim Tamiroff) who wants to prevent Vargas's testimony by intimidating his wife. Their plans are affected by an unrelated incident that occurs on the border crossing – a powerful local businessman from the US side of the border and his girlfriend are killed by a car bomb. Vargas, who witnessed the incident, volunteers to help the investigation because he thinks that the bomb was planted on Mexican soil. The investigation is led by Captain Hank Quinlan (played by Orson Welles), a grotesquely obese policeman who became a local legend because of his law enforcement abilities. Quinlan doesn't need much time to find a suspect – a young Mexican shoe store clerk, Manelo Sanchez (played by Victor Millan), was an employee of the deceased and had an affair with the boss's daughter. When Quinlan finds explosives in Sanchez's home, the diligent Vargas can't fail to notice that the evidence was planted. When he confronts Quinlan about it and threatens him with exposure, the old lawman decides to get rid of the overinquisitive Mexican. He gets in touch with Grandi, and the two of them plot a diabolical scheme to discredit Vargas through his wife.
Like many other cinema classics, Touch of Evil flopped during its original theatrical run and was generally viewed as a failure. This opinion was shared by studio executives and critics alike. The latter considered Welles's work to be nothing more than a B-film with A-list actors shot using some unconventional techniques. On the surface, their arguments have some merit – the story, which is set in a seedy border town drowning in prostitution and narco-trafficking and featuring a lesbian biker (played by Mercedes McCambridge) as a drug lord's henchman, can easily be viewed as pure pulp. Welles also contributes to this impression by conveniently showing Janet Leigh in revealing clothes and putting her character through a mock gang rape and similar ordeals suitable for damsels in pulpy B-movies. Because of that, many contemporary critics failed to see that Touch of Evil also happens to deal with some serious issues like racism or the endless conflict between police efficiency and civil rights. Perhaps that more serious dimension of this film was overlooked because Welles tried to break too many stereotypes. His idea to invert Hollywood clichés by confronting an honest and civic-minded Mexican lawman with his violent and corrupt American colleague might have looked appealing on paper, but with characterisation not sufficiently polished, it made Touch of Evil almost too surreal.
However, the main reason why people are attracted to this film lies in Welles's directorial mastery rather than its content. The most legendary aspect of this film is its excellent opening – a three-minute-long continuous crane shot that follows various characters and reveals many important details about them and the town where the plot takes place. This scene is awe-inspiring, especially considering how difficult it was to execute. Afterwards, only a handful of directors bothered to shoot such elaborate, encompassing scenes, and the practice became fashionable only relatively recently. Unfortunately, the opening scene is the best, and the rest of the film cannot surpass it. Welles used many interesting shots to create elaborate and memorable scenes, but none of them fulfils the promise of those three opening minutes.
The most valuable aspect of the film is its acting. Orson Welles the actor was as impressive as Orson Welles the director. Few characters in the history of cinema are as well-written and superbly played as Captain Hank Quinlan. Welles first used everything in his power to make Quinlan as unappealing as possible – Welles, already a man with extra weight in real life, used padded clothes and low camera angles to make Quinlan obese to the point of caricature. But physical unattractiveness pales in comparison to Quinlan's cynicism, racism, and immorality. Yet the audience slowly comes to sympathise with Quinlan, who is slowly but inevitably following a path of self-destruction until the melodramatic finale. Welles did a truly splendid job, but his strong performance only underlined the weaknesses in the rest of the casting. The studio-imposed decision to cast Charlton Heston as a Mexican (spoofed in Tim Burton's 1994 Ed Wood) turned ruinous because of the bad makeup. Similar problems with makeup turned another potentially strong performance – Akim Tamiroff's drug lord – into a caricature. On the other hand, some supporting actors were more than up to the task – Joseph Calleia as Quinlan's faithful partner and friend; Marlene Dietrich as Quinlan's old flame; and Dennis Weaver as the neurotic motel clerk who predates Norman Bates in Psycho. The film also benefited from the musical soundtrack by Henry Mancini, although some critics claim that the opening scene works better without music, which interferes with the genuine atmosphere of the border town.
Touch of Evil is definitely not the best film by Orson Welles, and it doesn't even belong among the best of the 1950s. But the inferiority of this film is rather relative; even in underachievement, Welles showed the truly magnificent scope of his talent, and the excellent reputation of this film is, after all, well deserved.
==
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/ Cent profile https://beta.cent.co/@drax Minds profile https://www.minds.com/drax_rp_nc
Brave browser: https://brave.com/dra011
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1480-touch-of-evil?language=en-US
Critic: AAA
