- ssosmcinOctober 4, 2025Absolutely stellar film noir by Orson Welles. The performances are all spot on. The only real head scratcher is casting Charlton Heston as a Mexican. Complete with brown face. It's not that his performance is bad, he's actually excellent. However, there is no attempt at a Mexican accent. If anything, this should've been a role for Ricardo Montabon or Fernando Lamas. Janet Leigh is beautiful and tough, perfect casting here. Welles is disgustingly slimy. The seedy underbelly of the Mexican border town is beautifully illustrated. This is a chilling tale of immorality and corruption. Welles as an artistic eye that has been evident ever since citizen came. This film has his stamp all over it. Just a heads up, my review is based on the reconstruction based on Orson Welles' notes.
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Touch of Evil was released on May 9, 1958.
Touch of Evil was directed by Orson Welles.
Touch of Evil has a runtime of 1h 35m.
Touch of Evil was produced by Albert Zugsmith.
A Mexican official and his American wife are targeted in a Texas border town by the crime family he's trying to put behind bars for drug trafficking, as his concern grows over the tactics of the local detective whose cooperation he needs.
The key characters in Touch of Evil are Ramon Miguel Vargas (Charlton Heston), Susan 'Susie' Vargas (Janet Leigh), Police Captain Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles).
Touch of Evil is rated Passed.
Touch of Evil is a Drama, Thriller, Crime film.
Touch of Evil has an audience rating of 9.2 out of 10.
Touch of Evil had a budget of $829K.
Touch of Evil has made $2.2M at the box office.