preview

A Touch Of Evil Analysis

Good Essays

A Touch of Evil (1958) is a dark film noir melodrama from director Orson Welles who also stars as corrupt police chief Hank Quinlan. A Touch of Evil takes place in a small Mexican-American border town. Handsome Charlton Heston is nicely tanned to play the role of Mexican born government investigator Mike Vargas. His wife Susan, an American blond beauty played by Janet Leigh makes the other policemen envious of Mike. This dark sinister thriller is a classic film study in police corruption and minorities. Welles stylistic film noir classic is filmed using a dark drab lighting appearance with the feeling that it is always dusk in this shabby border town.
Henry Mancini’s musical score for a Touch of Evil opens with a Latin Mamba style arraignment that instantly gives this movie a swinging up beat flair. The dark shadows and hint of international intrigue as we see a close up shot of a man’s hand setting a timer on a bomb, the classic camera shot of the man’s menacing shadow against the wall as he runs to plant the bomb on a car before the occupants arrive. Welles masterfully uses a camera crane (Hagopian, 2017) for a downward view as the car carrying a rich business man named Linnekar and his young girlfriend crosses the border. At the same time police investigator Mike Vargas and his wife Susan are strolling across the American-Mexican border on their honeymoon.
The dialogue in this crossing scene needs to be closely listened too, it lays some of the ground work in setting up

Get Access