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Touch of Evil
starring: Joe Basulto, Joseph Calleia, Ray Collins, Marlene Dietrich, Zsa Zsa Gabor

Used Price: $0.95
Collectible Price: $19.99
Third Party New Price: $2.95

Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9781558804227
Format: Black & White, HiFi Sound, NTSC
ISBN: 1558804226
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Universal Studios
Release Date: March 01, 1992
Running Time: 95 minutes
Sales Rank: 21342
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: 1958

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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com essential video:
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

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Worth the Upgrade
Containing all video versions and the script of Welles's revisions, this update of the noir classic is certainly worth the money (or trade-in for your old version). I'm biased, of course, as this is one of my favorite film noir classics, one of the last official examples of the style. Welles, Heston, Leigh, Dietrich,in great roles, alone makes it worth the price. Akim Tamiroff as the Mexican crime boss and, in smaller roles, Dennis Weaver, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Mercedes McCambridge (!) add even more interest.The photography and music are top-notch,and even the minor supporting actors all contribute excellent performances. If you have any interest in noir, you should have this version.

Rating:

- film noir meets shakespeare
film noir may have gotten out of style or petered out of existence due to its over-exposition, then welles came and made touch of evil, and re-invented the genre by adding a touch of shakespeare with a truly decadent, distorted, depraved energy. i would even dare say a grotesque baroque energy. and when i read or utter the word grotesque i immediately think of another movie, get shorty, where the main character goes to the movie to see touch of evil. how fitting!

we all know of the famous first scene, continuous, a technical prowess at the time - replicated by altman himself at the beginning of his movie the player. welles' first scene introduces movement, kinetic energy, noise, chaos. he reinforces this sense of movement throughout the movie, experimenting with various angles, perspectives, closed or opened shots and picture compositions. the camera is very dynamic throughout. at the same time ... Read More

Rating:

- Borderline noir
Yes, this is the sleaze-noir Orson Welles classic with THAT famous tracking shot, Charlton Heston as a Mexican police detective, and Janet Leigh in various stages of undress. Welles casts himself as Hank Quinlan, a morally bankrupt police captain who lords over a corrupt border town. Quinlan is the most hideous grotesquerie Welles ever created as an actor, and certainly stands as one the most unique and complex heavies in all of film noir. The film features one of the last great roles for Marlene Dietrich, who gets all the best lines ("You should lay off those candy bars."). The scene where Leigh gets terrorized in an abandoned motel by a group of thugs led by an ultra-creepy, leather-jacketed Mercedes McCambridge could have been directed by David Lynch; there are numerous such stylistic flourishes throughout that are simply light-years ahead of anything else going on in filmmaking at the time (1958). Fans of the film ... Read More

Rating:

- Another Sorry Mess. Highly regrettable. Bad storytelling.
A big "Citizen Kane" fan in my youth, I saw Touch of Evil in 1981 and thought it was simply awful. Then recently I heard of this reissue, and thought I'd buy it and watch it again. I discovered that in our youth we often know what's right, but often doubt ourselves. The movie is still awful. It may be more true to Welle's vision, but it's still awful. His talent had gone, quite obviously, by this time.

Many of us want so desperately to find Welles' later work important that we'll do almost anything to trick ourselves into thinking it is. Most often men do this... women know it may quack like a duck but it ain't no duck. This movie is hard to watch, not credible, the writing is unnatural and stilted, the premise preposterous.

Yes, the opening crane shot is elaborate and done in one take. But a bit unnecessary. Lots of work to show a car bombing. And overly long and trying - like the entire picture. ... Read More

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