Absolutely 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.
Decent dirty cop crime thriller. Poor Mrs. Vargas. Take that woman home. Welles was a bad dude. Didn't even really gain much from framing.
Reviews
Touch of Evil
ssosmcin reviewed
Touch of Evil
October 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.
