Touch of Evil

Touch of Evil is another classic example of film noir. This movie is an American film that was made in 1958 and was directed by Orson Welles. The film stars Orson Welles, Charleston Heston, and Janet Leigh. This movie starts off with an incredible tracking shot, the likes of which I have never seen. This shot continues for about three and a half minutes with out a single cut. This shot moves through the streets of the U.S./ Mexican border and follows a car that has just had a bomb placed in its trunk. It also follows a couple who turns out to be the main characters Mike and Susan Vargas. The shot finally cuts when the bomb explodes killing the two people in the car. This launches a full scale investigation involving both the American and Mexican law enforcement. The characters from both sides of the law are constantly bumping heads and creating tension. Captain Hank Quinlan is in charge of the American police involved in the investigation and is held in the highest regards. Quinlan, however, has reservation about being helped by the Mexican government. While Mike Vargas is trying to help solve the murder, he is attacked by a member of the Grande family. Unknown to Mike, his wife Susan is held captive by the Grande family at their motel. As the plot develops, it becomes clearer and clearer that Vargas cannot trust Quinlan or many others from the American police. Vargas soon realizes that Quinlan is a dirty cop and has been planting evidence throughout his career simply to make arrests. Vargas then has to try and prove that the hero detective is guilty while also dealing with the Grande family and rescuing his wife.

This film has many unique aspects that draw the viewer into the story. The first aspect is that the viewer is shown a variety of characters and gets a pretty good picture of most of them. The audience thinks they know a good amount about the characters but then are later shown that all of them are not who they seem to be. Another aspect that draws the viewers in is the constant information being uncovered throughout the investigation. The plot take several twists and turns that keep the audience hooked and wanting more. I believe that this is an elemental feature of film noir. This film also demonstrates several other characters of film noir such as a crime that involves the main characters, betrayal, and the main character is on a quest. However, this movie did not have a distinct femme fatale as other film noir.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie. The story was very intriguing and kept me guessing. Towards the end, the movie seemed to be dragged out, but at the very end it made up for it by bringing all of the parts together perfectly. I haven't seen the original theatrical version but I feel like I would not like it as much after seeing this revised version.