Touch of Evil
 | Restored to Orson Welles' VisionDirected by Orson Welles Starring: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff Universal Studios, 1958, DVD Customer Rating: 175 reviews Recommend |
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Considered by many to be the greatest B movie ever made, the original-release version of Orson Welles's film noir masterpiece Touch of Evil was, ironically, never intended as a B movie at all — it merely suffered that fate after it was taken away from writer-director Welles, then reedited and released in 1958 as the second half of a double feature. Time and critical acclaim would eventually elevate the film to classic status (and Welles's original vision was meticulously followed for the film's 1998 restoration), but for four decades this original version stood as a testament to Welles's directorial genius. From its astonishing, miraculously choreographed opening shot (lasting over three minutes) to Marlene Dietrich's classic final line of dialogue, this sordid tale of murder and police corruption is like a valentine for the cinematic medium, with Welles as its love-struck suitor. As the corpulent cop who may be involved in a border-town murder, Welles faces opposition from a narcotics officer (Charlton Heston) whose wife (Janet Leigh) is abducted and held as the pawn in a struggle between Heston's quest for truth and Welles's control of carefully hidden secrets. The twisting plot is wildly entertaining (even though it's harder to follow in this original version), but even greater pleasure is found in the pulpy dialogue and the sheer exuberance of the dazzling directorial style. — Jeff Shannon
Title: Touch of Evil (Restored to Orson Welles' Vision)
Sales Rank: 13794 in DVD
Actor: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff
Director: Orson Welles
Studio: Universal Studios, 2000-10-31, Theatrical Release: 1958
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, Black & White, NTSC, Acpect Ratio 1.85:1
Languages: English (Original Language)
Audience Rating: Unrated
Region Code: 1
Running Time: 95 minutes
Package Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches, 0.35 pounds
- Welles's greatest suspense thriller
- Orson Welles' 1958 film-noir "Touch of Evil" is one of Welles's greatest works. Besides directing, he wrote the screenplay and co-stared in this great suspense thriller. This movie has a top notch cast, especially with Charlton Heston in an unusually "dark" role for his screen career. I am impressed with how much Welles "stretched" Heston for this movie, it is a pleasure to see… More reviews
- A revelation
- This has been one of my favorite movies since I saw it, as a 15-year-old kid, at the RKO Theater in New Rochelle, NY, when it was originally released. It was the first time I remember being aware of the Director of a movie I was watching in that when "Directed by Orson Welles" came on the screen, my reaction was "But he's IN it." I dug it from the opening… More reviews
- Unwatchable
- Filmed mostly at night which renders most scenes dimly lit and extremely hard to see. Additionally, the plot itself is compromised by a jumble of farfetched characters who are difficult to decipher. Are they caricatures, comedic portrayals or something deeper and more sinister? Had to turn it off well before the end.… More reviews
- For Welles fans only
- I love films noir and several of Welles' earlier films. This one is so bad that I was shocked at the huge number of positive reviews.I can only conclude that many, many people are so impressed by a director's reputation that they cannot allow themselves to see the obvious flaws here. I have to wonder if these same people had never heard of Orson Welles… More reviews
- Touch of Evil
- For any true lover of Film noir, this is the ultimate addition to any collection. Super fast shipping time More reviews
