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Overall Rating
4.76

Awesome85.71%
Worth A Look: 8.16%
Average: 4.08%
Pretty Bad: 0%
Total Crap: 2.04%

2 reviews, 37 user ratings


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Touch of Evil
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by iF Magazine

"An aural and visual revelation."
5 stars

A nasty little must have. This Orson Welles crime drama marks both a high point and kiss off of the noir genre and the misunderstood master's last American film. Shot in ’58 and unceremoniously dumped at theaters as the bottom half of a double bill, TOUCH OF EVIL was touched by genius even though the studio took the film away from Welles, shot some new scenes and mucked up the sound edit.

Two years ago all that was made right by Oscar winning sound designer Walter Murch, who worked from Welles 58-page complaint memo to the studio. The result is an aural and visual revelation.


Set in two border towns between the U.S. and Mexico (actually shot in Venice California), TOUCH is the sleazy story of crooked cops (Welles), kidnapped wives (Janet Leigh) and honorable men (Charlton Heston). Through mean baroque lit streets and shadowy alleys both countries low lives dance a song of sex, drugs and death. Welles’ trademark deep focus b/w photography hit an apex here starting with the celebrated three and one half minute opening shot.


As Hank Quinlan, the obese cop who’s gone to seed (both ethically and physically), Welles has a ball slurring, spitting and slandering everyone around him (not so surprisingly it’s the part that steals the movie). Heston plays the straight arrow Mexican narcotics officer who is saddled with both all the straight lines and some muddy make up that never makes us believe he’s a south of the border kind of guy for one moment. Janet Leigh gets the most out of her damsel in distress role, (she plays Heston’s skittery new bride), as she’s manipulated, kidnapped and finally trapped in a small motel where a madman is peeping her (sound similar to a Hitchcock film in the early ‘60s? It’s just another layer of fun in this multi-textured treasure.)


Since this revised gem’s pristine print has been lovingly transferred to DVD (where you can really appreciate the sound montage Welles had in mind), one would assume there is also revealing documentaries and scholarly commentaries, a litany of other goodies.


Not so. Universal wouldn’t release the one hour documentary on the restoring of the film and there’s no audio accompaniment (even the recent release of Welles’ LADY FROM SHANGHAI had a hilariously dead pan Peter Bogdanovich reading from one of his books), only the trailer, Welles entire memo and a pitch to buy other Universal DVDs.

Are we sad? Naw. Those goodies get tiresome after one pass, the film stands alone, and plays well in segments or in its entirety. And here’s a novel suggestion. A perfect accompaniment to the film would be THIS IS ORSON WELLES by Orson Welles and Peter Bogdanovich, 530 pages of juicy interviews and loving analysis. So get the book, buy the DVD and crank it up. Flaws and all it’s even more fun to dissect than CITIZEN KANE.-- Paul Zimmerman

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link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=863&reviewer=119
originally posted: 02/24/01 16:01:49
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User Comments

2/25/09 PAUL SHORTT DARK AND SINISTER, BUT NONETHELESS AN INTRIGUING STUDY OF THE ART OF FILMMAKING 5 stars
2/26/08 pkr in case of orson welles it is impossible to select *best* movie. they're all 100%. 5 stars
2/23/08 mr.mike Chuckston pulls off his role as a Mexican(!) detective in this engrossing noir. 4 stars
1/26/08 proper amateur film critic As much about moviemaking as it is about storytelling. Welles' best after Citizen Kane 5 stars
3/06/07 action movie fan promising start but soon falls apart 3 stars
1/10/07 R.W.Welch Heston had it right: the best B picture ever made. 5 stars
7/05/06 Viper This may have been interesting years ago, but a real yawner 1 stars
6/01/06 abcdefz Terrific achievement 4 stars
5/01/05 craig varney morose but compelling drama 5 stars
5/28/04 John disturbing and compelling - brilliant 5 stars
1/24/04 CC Nice 4 stars
12/17/03 Tim Triangle About the only time I wanted Heston to live. He doesn't overact amazing. 5 stars
12/04/03 Andrew Callaway Great movie! One of Orson Welles better movies (Better than Lady From Shanghi, at least) 5 stars
4/02/03 Shannon Krystle Good Movie 5 stars
1/28/03 The Aussie Film Reviewer It's really not a very good story, but for style alone this deserves four stars. 4 stars
11/25/02 Charles Tatum Dark and brooding 5 stars
2/17/02 ACBCorp Dark, sinister, intriguing and deceptively thought-provoking - Great stuff! 5 stars
1/26/02 Andrew Carden Excellent Movie. Couldn't Believe How Good A Peformance Leigh Did. 5 stars
1/18/02 khar Excellent noir! 5 stars
6/30/01 Matthew T. Film noir at its most brilliant. Welles was a master of film. 5 stars
12/04/00 Cristopher Revilla the strangest vengeance ever planned, i'll agree on that. This movie rocks!!!! 5 stars
5/07/00 Klute. This is great stuff. Cinema history. Welles was way before his time. 5 stars
5/03/00 PJ The best opening to movie period. A truly dark beautiful Masterpiece, Welles= Genius 5 stars
3/21/00 shawkin About as good as it gets 5 stars
3/15/00 Mic Simply brilliant. Wonderful. Enchanting cinematography. 5 stars
9/06/99 Weird Andy Better than "Kane" 5 stars
4/19/99 jimmy jam Wells is the best. Must see 5 stars
3/19/99 cinebimbo if this is the only film you ever see, your life was worth living 5 stars
12/13/98 Binky A veritable classic. An example of why Welles was 50 yrs ahead of his time. 5 stars
11/26/98 Mr.Pink Overrated, i'm afraid.... 3 stars
11/20/98 Mojo the First fuck titanic, this is the movie of all time 5 stars
11/03/98 Kimberly Murphy-Smith This is THE film for Film Noir fans. You MUST see it! 5 stars
10/27/98 Lord Of The Dunce One of my all time favorite films. Welles was a God. A drunk God, but a God. 5 stars
10/22/98 Vincent I didn't see this until the re-release but what a great film- so amazingly contemporary 5 stars
10/18/98 Kwyjibo I can't wait for this rerelease to get down here. The original kicked all ass. Top 25 ever. 5 stars
9/14/98 Como Erectus Welles was ahead of his time. Beats the fuck out of Speilberg. 5 stars
9/09/98 CreamCorn Orson Welles' best work. Fuck the AFI for not putting this in their top 100. 5 stars
IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS FILM, RATE IT!
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USA
  21-May-1958

UK
  N/A

Australia
  27-May-1999 (MA)


Directed by
  Orson Welles

Written by
  Orson Welles

Cast
  Charlton Heston
  Janet Leigh
  Orson Welles
  Joseph Calleia
  Zsa Zsa Gabor
  Dennis Weaver



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