Touch of Evil (1958)

The beautiful opening sequence of Touch of Evil caught my interest immediately, a continuous long shot, perfectly choreographed and staged, almost having a theatrical feel to it was completely disrupted by the introduction of Charlton Heston as a Mexican immigrant. Whilst many may argue that due to its release being in 1958, we have to look past the concerning discrimination of ethnic minorities, the treatment of women and the representation of disabilities in this film, I will struggle to do that for the purpose of appreciating Wells creative capabilities.

Janet Leigh, known for her amazing performance in ‘Psycho’(1960) was thoroughly let down by Wells. Her character Susan Vargas was put in place as nothing but an easy representation of women, where they could simply degrade her and use her character to develop Mike Vargas’, already dull character. Whilst many of her appearances within the film were ones of her sat seductively on a bed, Leighs acting was possibly the most impressive behind Wells, as she had the constant struggle of avoiding the Mexican men who were stereotypically misrepresented as corrupt and perverted.

Captain Hank Quinlan quite possibly has the most repulsing face I have seen on the screen, I can still picture the beads of sweat and waxy complexion emphasised further with the deliberate close-ups Wells placed within the film. Despite clearly being a struggling alcoholic, I felt little to no sympathy for his character throughout, perhaps due to little to no audible words that I could interpret coming from his mouth. Marlene Dietrich’s character was yet another female placed as a plot device where she attempts to humanise Wells’ character towards death, perhaps to follow the Hays code closer, to make up for a well-respected police officers passing.

The purpose of placing a disabled character into the narrative as a comical element still belittles me, I am glad the film industry and society as a whole has gotten past such an unprincipled ‘sense of humour’.

Whilst my criticisms still stand, I respect Orson Wells’ efforts and achievements in creating such a well-known Film Noir classic.