Touch of Evil 1958 Review

Touch of Evil (1958)

Orson Welles was certainly one of Hollywood's bad boys with a flair for filmmaking.  He had made Citizen Kane as his first film and had full creative control - the last time he would ever get that consideration from a major studio.  Charlton Heston, who had made his name in some of the DeMille epics, insisted on having Orson Welles as director and got it, due to his box office clout.  One thing Hollywood never argues with is money. ;>

Touch of Evil was Orson Welles gift to the film noir oeuvre. Made towards the end of the era, it could be thought of as closing the door on one era and opening a new door to the next.

The newest Universal DVD is titled Touch of Evil: Recut to Orson Welles’ Vision. This is significant because like most of Orson’s work after Citizen Kane, the studio hacked his work up to suit their idea of what it should be, rather than leaving the director’s work to speak for itself.   The earlier DVDs and videos had the hacked up Touch of Evil which is what I first saw. I was totally against this movie from seeing that version.  Now that I’ve seen the Recut version, I agree that it shows the movie much better, making it in fact one of the best films noir. 

The cast is big and the story is too.   A policeman is manufacturing evidence in a border town and a foreign detective smokes him out.  Who these players are, I’ll leave to your viewing pleasure.You'll really be wowed by the camera angles and moves.

Remember to look for Touch of Evil: Recut to Orson Welles’ Vision if you decide you want to see this. You’ll probably want to own it if you like film noir.