Touch of Evil - Cameron Smith

Touch Of Evil: A Critical Analysis

Written by: Cameron J. Smith

Starring: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles
Score Composer: Henry Mancini
Director: Orson Welles

    Touch of Evil: arguably one of the best films in the film noir idiom (also the world of cinema) directed by (arguably) the greatest director of all time (Orson Welles), and based off of a really bad book (Badge of Evil). This film is a handful -- to say the least, and I say that as a compliment. I like when a film has puzzle pieces, and a complex plot consisting of these interesting characters; Touch of Evil fits this criteria perfectly. Some of my favorite aspects of the film were: the brawl in the bar, the film's soundtrack, the cinematography, the comic relief of the Mirador, and the first scene with the gypsy woman and a piano roll which acts as a non-diegetic sound. Forgive my honesty, but at times this film was just plain hard to follow and even harder for my teenage brain to put together. However, I will try to not bite off more than I can chew and give my thoughts, opinions, and conclusions of Touch of Evil.

    The beginning of the film is worth mention, as it starts off with the best tracking shot I have seen in a film yet. We first see a mysterious youth put a ticking time bomb into a car; the boy runs off and we (the audience) await the couple who arrives. As the couple is driving in their mustang which is soon to explode, tension is caused by dramatic irony (the audience knowing something, while the characters do not) and the awesome Latin-jazz score. A couple highlights from this tracking shot are when the female in the car complains of a "ticking" noise -- while appearing totally nuts, giving a bit of comic relief -- and when the explosion comes. Now let me clarify on that: I was not taken by surprise of the explosion itself, but rather when it came. Just as Miguel Vargas (a Mexican drug enforcement officer portrayed by Charlton Heston) and his wife Susie (Janet Leigh) are about to kiss while on their honeymoon -- giving us what I like to call "romantic relief"-- the car bursts into flames, therefore breaking the relief.

    Miquel "Mike" Vargas is a Mexican drug enforcement officer who is meanwhile busy with a case concerning the Grandi family, but is for now on a honeymoon with his American wife Susie. Appearing on the scene to investigate the case is the detective Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles); Vargas and Quinlan both team up to investigate the explosion. The film then bursts into a series of intertwining people and events concerning Susie Vargas being drugged at the Mirador hotel ran by the Grandi family and an eccentric night-man (Dennis Weaver) who acts as a comic relief (and likes hot-fiddle tunes like me), a study into Hank Quinlan's character concerning his deceased wife and his act of strangling a man to death, and a conflict between Vargas and Quinlan, the latter being accused of framing the suspect of the car explosion.

    To be frank, I cannot explain this film perfectly and give an in-depth analysis of it (yet!). However, I will say that this film was real groundbreaking and a great study into the character of the human condition and the crookedness of policemen. It showcases to a degree how the motives and actions of one man can spark a series of events and put people in jeopardy; it also showcases the reality behind people who we may look up to, respect, or see as high-and-mighty as big and bad. This film can easily come across as a confusing mess ("a lot of ins, a lot of outs" as The Dude would say), but it is really a complex masterwork of film noir which brilliantly connects a series of events to one man (and showcases the affect too many chocolate bars can have on you).