Before LAW & ORDER, NCIS, CSI, and WALKER, TEXAS RANGER, Charlton Heston was the 'law' to Orson Welles' 'order' in the brilliant Touch of Evil. See this film noir masterpiece at one of Hartford's best theaters, Cinestudio on Trinity College, as they close out their season with the restored version of Orson Welles' final Hollywood film.
The above scene is actually from Tim Burton's Ed Wood, where the filmmakers imagine a potential meeting of Welles with Wood as each deal with making films in the system. Welles is portrayed by the under-appreciated character actor Vincent D'Onofrio, with an uncanny resemblance, but voiced to perfection by Maurice LaMarche (the Brain of Pinky & the Brain). The kicker is the line about the choice to cast Charlton Heston in the film.
Enough has been written about this film; in fact, freshman year of college, I wrote a paper for Film History class on Touch of Evil (got an 'A'). This film is so rich and layered, with amazing black & white cinematography (from the amazing continuous opening sequence to baroque lighting and chiaroscuro shadows in every shot!), the punctuating score by Henry Mancini (his first score), the revised print restores the film closer to Orson Welles original vision (as outlined by a 58 page memo he sent to the producers who took it away from him).
While I appreciated this film when I first saw it on video, which in '94 was only the 'studio' cut, nothing compares to experiencing a film print on the big screen. The play of light in this film is just amazing. From Cinestudio's program notes:
As Cinestudio began its 38th Season with Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, it only seems right to end with Touch of Evil, the director’s last film made in Hollywood. Unlike Kane’s breathlessly inventive optimism, Touch of Evil is the cynical, though equally brilliant, kiss off of an unappreciated artist. Although badly recut by the studio, Touch of Evil was restored to Welles’ wishes (outlined in a rediscovered 58 page memo) to great acclaim. The action takes place in the imagined seedy border town of Los Robles, where a corrupt American lawmaker (Welles) enters into a vicious battle of wills with his idealistic young Mexican counterpart (Heston). But unlike in Kane, the most fascinating parts belong to the women: Janet Leigh as a naive American bride who’s tired of being lied to, and Marlene Dietrich as a bordello owner who tells her former lover (Welles) with unexpected tenderness: “You’re future is all used up, baby.” To end on a happier note: director François Truffaut wrote that it was a Paris screening of Touch of Evil, discredited in the States, that inspired him to make The 400 Blows. 105 min. Touch of Evil is a Friends of Cinestudio 2 for 1 event!
And yes, it is timely, considering the recent death of Mr. Heston. While I can't recall the article now, there was a great comment by a writer who defines the presence of traditional Hollywood actors Charlton Heston and Vivian Leigh (pre-Psycho) as 'two movie stars who set out for a honeymoon stroll and end up in an Orson Welles phantasmagoria'. That's just a paraphrase, but it's pretty apt, as they play the only 'normal' people in the film. While the late Mr. Heston and Ms. Leigh may have been the 'stars', the real appeal to the film are the supporting characters; from the brilliant Welles as corrupt Police Captain Hank Quinlan, to Akim Tamiroff as the menacing Mexican crime boss, Joseph Calleia as Quinlan's naive sidekick, a young Dennis Weaver as a creepy motel desk clerk, a very made up Marlena Dietrich as Quinlan's one time lover and fortune teller, to Welles' regulars Ray Collins, Joseph Cotton, and Harry Shannon, and a brief cameo by Zsa-Zsa Gabor as an 'exotic dancer'.
The story itself revolves around the murder of a millionaire and his date in the Texas bordertown policed by Captain Quinlan. Heston's attorney Vargas is a witness of the murder and becomes involved, creating a battle of wills between Vargas and Quinlan. What starts out as a simple homicide case turns into a study in paranoia, racism, corruption, sex, and loneliness. This is an amazing piece of filmmaking, from the script to the cinematography to the score and finally, to the editing which Welles finally has the last word on. See this film!
Other Links:
Brilliant Welles' impression from Pinky & the Brain
The original audio version they are spoofing
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