Touch of Evil (1958), starring Charlton Heston as Ramon Miguel and Janet Leigh as Susan Vargas, is Welles' most famous foray into the dark world of film noir. The story involves murder, kidnapping, and, above all, corruption in the world of officialdom.
Use of Narrative Space
Beginning with a beautiful and highly complex tracking shot that remains unbroken until a car bomb goes off, which is then followed by frantic hand-held closeups and medium shots, Touch of Evil manages to astound in its use of camera work alone. It is amazing how much information Welles allows into the scene visually - almost always there is something vital to take in that is hidden somewhere within the mise-en-scene. And, not only does the camera move through and around scenes, imbuing them with a continuous sense of visual poetry, but it adds weight to each of the main characters - especially Welles' Police Captain Quinlan. Quinlan's not-inconsiderable frame fills the screen each time the camera points in his direction, using his shambling body like a juggernaut, carrying the scene's momentum perpetually forward.
Editing the Space
The masterful use of editing acts like the film's heartbeat, allowing long unbroken scenes to play themselves out before the camera when the pace calls for it, then cutting scenes with a fervor nearly like that employed in early Russian cinema. The camera angles employed, too, add their own psychological implications, contorting the surroundings is a way reminiscent of German Expressionism.
Charlton Heston
The strange casting of Charlton Heston as a Mexican is a bit distracting and somewhat comical in hindsight, but that is, admittedly, a small complaint of an otherwise brilliant film, and Heston does his usual superb job despite. In fact,
Welles
At first, Orson Welles was only to act in the picture, but was allowed to direct after the insistence of Charlton Heston. He was, however, not allowed to take part in any of the initial cuts, and the film was released originally in a form Welles did not approve of. Welles' notes of how he wished it to be edited were in Heston's possession, and they were used for the 1998 reconstruction, which is how it can be found on DVD today.
Ultimate Example of True Noir?
Touch of Evil is often referred to as the last true entry in the film noir movement, and it seems to exist as the culmination of every experiment undertaken in the twenty-something genre years prior; extreme light and dark contrasts serve to question character motivations, highlight red herrings, and probe unabashed into the darkness of the human spirit. Even if there was no noir movement, the principal films we now call neo-noir (L.A. Confidential, Miller's Crossing, The Black Dahlia) could still exist if the genre's sole example was Touch of Evil.
