Touch of Evil 1958
I didn’t know much about this movie, but had heard about it over the years. I was happy to finally get a chance to watch it. The movie had a troubled history, not quite completed by Orson Welles, who directed, wrote, and acted in the movie, though he was past his prime at this point, playing a morbidly obese and dishonest police investigator. It often overstates itself with seedy locations and tough dialogue, not to mention some almost comic book style cinematography, full of weird angles and close ups. It might have been better, but was never finalized by Welles, and the studio chose to cut it to pieces and even reshoot some scenes with a new director. Over time, an attempt was made to put it back together as Welles probably intended. Based on length, I must have watched the original version, so I am at a disadvantage, but I can only review what I saw. Charlton Heston seems entirely too American to be a Mexican police official (though that was how Hollywood did things in those days) while Janet Leigh as his wife has a story that doesn’t make much sense. In the end, the movie almost seems more like something you might see on TV. It is great seeing some classic actors in a movie and I like the film noir vibe but the movie seems poorly executed with some kind of hammy acting by Welles (who made himself look even fatter with makeup and costumes) and others (Dennis Weaver as a nutty motel night clerk who seems to mostly work the day shift). It is an interesting artifact of Orson Welles’ career, but doesn’t really work.
Written: 04 Oct 2020
Owned on: Digital