Review of Touch of Evil (1958) by Late R — 29 Nov 2016

This gritty drama from 1958 feels modern in so many respects, starting with its content, which is about police corruption, but also touches on a lot of other adult themes (murder, kidnapping, rape, marijuana, stripping, etc). Among other things, you'll see Jane Leigh terrorized in a small roadside motel where she's the only lodger (a couple of years before she'll run into Norman Bates), this time by Mexican gangsters who've come over the border to harass her (and I wish it stopped at that).

Orson Welles is absolutely brilliant as actor and director, and leads a great cast which also includes strong performances from Leigh and Charlton Heston (though I hate the fact that he was cast as a Mexican). There is a nice small part played by Marlene Dietrich and I really loved how she ended the film, as well a cameo from Zsa Zsa Gabor. However the biggest reason to watch the film is the way it's shot, which is gorgeous, and decades ahead of its time. The opening shot sequence alone, fluidly following the action through Mexican streets, is brilliant.

I have to say it was a little hard to follow at times, with the actors talking over one another, which, while more realistic, makes it harder to hear the dialogue. I was also not wild about a young Dennis Weaver in the role of the kooky night manager. All in all, though, this is a film definitely worth watching, and definitely shows off Orson Welles' genius. I also loved this interchange:

Heston: In any free country, the policeman is supposed to enforce the law, and the law protects the guilty.

Welles: Our job is tough enough.

Heston: It's supposed to be, it has to be. The policeman's job is only easy in a police state, that's the whole point, Captain. Who's the boss, the cop or the law?

Indeed.