Rating: 
Summary: NO AMOUNT OF STYLISH FILMING CAN MAKE UP FOR AN EMPTY STORY
Review: I saw this "film noir" yesterday and The Third Man a couple of months ago, and if they are supposedly trailblazers in the genre than I'm pretty convinced that the entire genre is overrated.I must say that I liked the camera work in this movie, but that's about it. The music in some of the scenes is absolutely horrible, the average Iron Maiden or Aerosmith number sounds a lot better. The characters are wafer-thin with the possible exception of Welles' character, who is given some depth, but apparently the only reason that he went "bad" is that his wife died FOURTY YEARS ago. Several members of the supporting cast can't their way out of a paper bag, and all of the characters seemed to behave very unnaturally to me. In terms of story, we have a very obvious murder mystery, but for some reason Welles' cop thinks it's necessary to frame the suspect anyway, probably just out of habit. I'm willing to accept that the actual murder is just of secondary importance, but in that case the main theme should have been worked out a lot better. And the way that Quinlan falls for Vargas's trick at the end, that's just plain laughable. All in all, this interestingly-shot but totally hollow movie bored the living daylights out of me for well over one-and-a-half hours. It's got an uninteresting and simple story and unbelievable and wooden characters. No amount of stylish filming can make up for that.
Rating: 
Summary: B-movie pulp elevated by great director
Review: What would Touch of Evil have been had Orson Welles not been involved? Most likely a long-forgotten B-movie. However, Orson Welles came aboard to orchestrate the production and elevated it above its pulpy noir origins. He brings his dazzling style to this tale of murder and deceit in a small Mexican border town. Charlton Heston is nice as the good cop Vargas who's investigating a murder, while trying to keep his wife (Janet Leigh) out of trouble. The film's memorable protagonist is the very bad cop Hank Quinlan, memorably played by Orson Welles. The film's greatest asset, however, is the elegant direction of Orson Welles. That's what made Touch of Evil more than just a typical noir thriller. Take the famous opening tracking shot, for example. Many longer and more complex tracking shots have been done today (such as in The Player and Goodfellas), but for 1958, this was pretty revolutionary. Welles also uses crane shots to great effect in several scenes. In all, it's really not a major film classic, but it's a great noir thriller worth checking out for Welles' performance as well as his wonderful direction. This DVD is definitely the version of the film to see. It was re-edited according to Orson Welles' specific instructions, so this is truly his preferred version of the film. And those of you talking about all this "fake widescreen" nonsense should really learn a thing or two about filmmaking before you start ranting and raving. Touch of Evil is a soft-matted 1.85:1 "flat" film. 1.85:1 is the correct aspect ratio. Doesn't matter what your old VHS copy showed, THIS is the how the film was seen in theaters. You can believe it or not, but this is the truth. Just do some research. Read a book about the technical aspects of filmmaking, or search the web.
Rating: 
Summary: HORRENDOUS
Review: I could not finish watching this horrendous film. Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, and to a lesser extent Othello, in those films he did it right, but something went seriosly wrong with Orson Welles at some point. I have a hunch it wasn't his personality that did his career in, but rather, his inability to produce good films reliably. He appears to be a masterpiece-or-disaster kind of director. A Touch of Evil is VISUALLY BEAUTIFUL, every shot carefully framed and composed, and yet he was so focussed on the formal visual qualities that he forgot about telling a story in a comprehensible way, and even his tour de force visuals after awhile become a total distraction. Welles employs no sense of proportion; every scene is filmed as if to throw you off balance, tip you at a diagonal or thrust you into some speaker's face until you're practically up the actor's nose, REGARDLESS of what's happening in any particular scene. UNLIKE HITCHCOCK Welles in this film doesn't know how to match the visual to the content, to make one enhance the other. Rather the visuals too often fight to grab your attention in a hey-look-how-artsy-I-can-be kind of way until you have a feeling you're watching a self-conscious art film made by a graduate student at NYU, rather than a seasoned veteran. It's just shocking to see this movie and then compare it to Ambersons or Kane. Welles really lost it.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie gets outstanding treatment on DVD
Review: TOUCH OF EVIL is a great film, and it has never looked better than it does on this new DVD release. Famously, this film was taken away from director and star Orson Welles before he could complete the final edit. This a "restored" version (though how something can be restored to a condition it was never in is beyond me) encompassing all the changes that Orson Welles requested in a 58-page memo sent to the studio heads. The new version isn't really all that different from the "original" on first glance. I had only see the other edition once before and there were really only a couple of minor details that I noticed. The story does flow a little better now, particularly in the opening sequences where Janet Leigh's character is accosted by a gang member while her husband is busy with a murder investigation. The changes are detailed in a copy of the 58-page memo that's included on the DVD, though anyone who has the patience to read all of that on a television screen is a better person than I. The movie itself is a wild ride and reflects Orson Welles' keen directorial eye. As with most of his films, the characters are drawn completely and fully, each with their own understandable motivations. It's a very dark film, yet it's amazing to sit back and reflect on how little we actually see that is used to set the tone. There's a lot of subtlety at work in this movie. The scene where gang members break into Mrs. Vargas' motel room is one of the most powerful and chilling moments in film, yet it's done so efficiently that there's very little that the viewer actually sees. The buildup to and during this scene (and in most of the film itself) had been so careful that the result is shocking in its effectiveness. TOUCH OF EVIL isn't perfect, of course. I felt that the ending was a bit too contrived and having Orson Welles' corrupt cop being tricked into a confession was a let down after constructing the character in such a realistic way. Despite this minor problem, the film is quite an experience. From the wonderful acting of everyone involved to the great soundtrack (note the slick combination of rock'n'roll with tradition Mexican music that is perfect at setting the scene for the Texas/Mexican border), most everything in this film achieves greatness. This will make a great addition to your DVD collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Film Noir, Squared
Review: From the extended, amazing opening shot to the foregone final scene, Touch of Evil, actor-director Orson Welles' personal, pet project, continues to provide an engaging and timeless look at bigotry, corruption, and honor. Although political correctness and modern sensibilities haven't been kind to certain production aspects of this movie, the themes presented are still relevant today, especially considering increasing awareness of our exploding, vibrant Hispanic population in the United States. The film opens with one of the most memorable shots in cinema, an almost 5-minute extended single take that follows Mexican detective Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston, with some noticeably un-PC makeup and hair dye), his American wife Susan (Hitchcock femme Janet Leigh), and others around a small Mexican border town. In fact, we learn the town is right on the border, divided in two by the imaginary line between the countries - and in the hearts and minds of those who live on either side. When a car bomb kills a wealthy American on the Mexican side of the border, Police Captain Hank Quinlan (Welles) and his cronies get the call, as it is suspected that the bomb was planted before the car drove over the border. Vargas, already on someone's want-list for his investigations into a narcotics ring in Mexico City, dives into the case with Quinlan, finding few friends along the way. When Quinlan fabricates evidence to pin the crime on a Mexican living on the American side, Vargas begins to dig up dirt on the chief, and the sparks start to fly. Touch of Evil is probably the finest example of the film noir genre, and Welles' camera angles emphasize the sinister aspects of everyone and everything. The film presented here is as close to Welles' original vision as restoration work allowed, and his memo about how to edit the film is included on the DVD. The black-and-white print has stood the test of time, with the blacks being sharp and deep and the whites looking as they should. The sound is as good as it's going to get, although fans of the film will notice the lack of many of the original Mancini songs in this print (most notably, in the opening shot). This is one of the rare films where none of the characters are "good," although it's hard to describe any of them as completely "evil," either. Each one, even the minor characters, are fully realized and three-dimensional, which bolsters the timelessness of the story and the effectiveness it still holds. Look for Marlene Dietrich in what amounts to an extended cameo, and savvy film fans will find ToE has many things in common with the more recent Lone Star. Touch of Evil, in addition to being a classic of American cinema, still holds its own as a great movie to watch, digest, and ponder. Films like this are what cinema is all about, and it belongs on the shelf of any true collector.
Rating:
Summary: Restored to Orson Welles wishes. Great nighttime mood film.
Review: Great black & white film noir film with Orson Welles. The opening sequence has the feeling that you are moving with through the night time streets of the California/Mexico border. You might be astonished by the weight of Orson welles as he does not look like himself from the time of Citizen Kane. The film starts with a bride and groom Janet Leigh and Charlton Heston as they walk into the Mexico border town. Orson Welles plays a wrong-doing police chief who wants to follow the couple. Heston is a well-known Narcotics Investigator and his wife trys to inquisitivly get involved in her husband's professional business. Well, when she sticks her nose in too far, she has got a mexican boy and his boss on her trail. While Heston separates from his wife for official business, he advises her to go on to a hotel for sleep. She ends up in this out of the way hotel taken care of by Dennis Weaver. (Janet Leigh would end up in another hotel two years later in PSYCHO [1960]). Heston must square off with Orson Welles. There are two different versions of this film. When Welles was fired as director, Universal Pictures recut the film. After Welles saw the film in 1958, he wrote a 58-page letter to the studio about the way the film should be re-edited and scenes added. In 1998, Universal obliged. This letter was found and a new version of "Touch Of Evil" was made from the original negetive and the film was reconstructed the way Orson Welles had wishes. This new version is longer at 111 minutes. This DVD version is the 111 minute version. The 1958 print is 108 minutes and shorter prints are 95 minutes. Cast also includes: Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Valentin De Vargas, Ray Collins, Mort Mills, Victor Millan, Lalo Rios, Michael Sargent, Phil harvey, Joi Lansing, Harry Shannon, Dan White, with special guests Marlene Dietrich and Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Rating:
Summary: 100-Proof Noir
Review: Seedy border town is the setting for this noir classic--justifiably called by a New York Post film critic "The Baroque Cathedral of Film Noir." Orson Welles' entrance as the crass, venal Capt. Quinlan is just one example why this film is a must-see on the big screen--not that this DVD widescreen version is so bad (it's a gem). Quinlan's massive, bloated bulk fills the screen as he climbs out of his car to begin the murder investigation that will soon envelop and taint the film's principal characters--immediately establishing Quinlan as the embodiment of corruption. The breathtaking opening sequence (shot in one take) incorporating the ambient music and sounds of the town's lurid nightlife is a key part of this reedit DVD version, setting right the studio-maimed opening of the original release, which ran opening credits and Henry Mancini's score over this sequence to Welles' fruitless objections, diluting its effectiveness. Respected Mexican police official Miguel "Mike" Vargas (Heston) and his American bride Susan's (Janet Leigh) ("She doesn't look Mexican either," Quinlan sneers) honeymoon is derailed when they become targets first of local crime family boss "Uncle Joe" Grandi (Akim Tamiroff), whose brother is about to be sent to prison because of Vargas, and Grandi's impulsive nephews, and then Quinlan, when Vargas accidentally uncovers the latter's penchant for tampering with crime scenes to ensure a death sentence for the accused--whether guilty or actually innocent. Leigh drips sex and is the perfect pawn for those scheming to wreck her husband's career and their marriage. Joseph Calleia stands out as Pete Menzies, who idolizes Quinlan and painfully must come to terms with his betrayal. Dietricht is enigmatic gypsy Tana (memorable line as she looks over the considerably changed Quinlan and bluntly says: "You're a mess honey.") Mancini score, especially "Tana's Theme" ("Pianola"), is exceptional. One valid complaint about this otherwise beautiful DVD is that the standard version should have been included in addition to the widescreen version for those who have not yet overcome the perception problem of "those black bars." Now for me, widescreen is the best. It is how we see the movie on the big screen. This is how the film was shot, and we see camera angles that are lost when the film has been "reformatted to fit your television screen." Those who put together this DVD should have known better and provided BOTH options--usually standard practice with many DVDs.
Rating:
Summary: Restored to Orson Welles wishes. Great nighttime mood film.
Review: Great black & white film noir film with Orson Welles. The opening sequence has the feeling that you are moving with through the night time streets of the California/Mexico border. You might be astonished by the weight of Orson welles as he does not look like himself from the time of Citizen Kane. The film starts with a bride and groom Janet Leigh and Charlton Heston as they walk into the Mexico border town. Orson Welles plays a wrong-doing police chief who wants to follow the couple. Heston is a well-known Narcotics Investigator and his wife trys to inquisitivly get involved in her husband's professional business. Well, when she sticks her nose in too far, she has got a mexican boy and his boss on her trail. While Heston separates from his wife for official business, he advises her to go on to a hotel for sleep. She ends up in this out of the way hotel taken care of by Dennis Weaver. (Janet Leigh would end up in another hotel two years later in PSYCHO [1960]). Heston must square off with Orson Welles. There are two different versions of this film. When Welles was fired as director, Universal Pictures recut the film. After Welles saw the film in 1958, he wrote a 58-page letter to the studio about the way the film should be re-edited and scenes added. In 1998, Universal obliged. This letter was found and a new version of "Touch Of Evil" was made from the original negetive and the film was reconstructed the way Orson Welles had wishes. This new version is longer at 111 minutes. This DVD version is the 111 minute version. The 1958 print is 108 minutes and shorter prints are 95 minutes. Cast also includes: Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Valentin De Vargas, Ray Collins, Mort Mills, Victor Millan, Lalo Rios, Michael Sargent, Phil harvey, Joi Lansing, Harry Shannon, Dan White, with special guests Marlene Dietrich and Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Rating:
Summary: Much better then Citizen Kane
Review: Orsem Wells plays bad cop on US side of the Tijuana/San Diego Border, and Charlton Heston plays the Mexican detective on the TJ side of teh border. Janet Leigh is Heston't new bride, and Gabor and Deitrich have interesting cameo roles in this film. Awesome opening credits msuic, and filmography. Great atmosphereic late 50's Tijuana scenes, with lot's of cool rockabilyl looking mexicans in lowrider cars. Awesome story, great acting, the ultimate artistic statement from Wells. A CLASSIC!!! Heck it's worth watching to see Heston playing a Mexican!!!
Rating:
Summary: NO AMOUNT OF STYLISH FILMING CAN MAKE UP FOR AN EMPTY STORY
Review: I saw this "film noir" yesterday and The Third Man a couple of months ago, and if they are supposedly trailblazers in the genre than I'm pretty convinced that the entire genre is overrated. I must say that I liked the camera work in this movie, but that's about it. The music in some of the scenes is absolutely horrible, the average Iron Maiden or Aerosmith number sounds a lot better. The characters are wafer-thin with the possible exception of Welles' character, who is given some depth, but apparently the only reason that he went "bad" is that his wife died FOURTY YEARS ago. Several members of the supporting cast can't their way out of a paper bag, and all of the characters seemed to behave very unnaturally to me. In terms of story, we have a very obvious murder mystery, but for some reason Welles' cop thinks it's necessary to frame the suspect anyway, probably just out of habit. I'm willing to accept that the actual murder is just of secondary importance, but in that case the main theme should have been worked out a lot better. And the way that Quinlan falls for Vargas's trick at the end, that's just plain laughable. All in all, this interestingly-shot but totally hollow movie bored the living daylights out of me for well over one-and-a-half hours. It's got an uninteresting and simple story and unbelievable and wooden characters. No amount of stylish filming can make up for that.
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