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Touch of Evil

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Touch of Evil

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Summary

Classic crime drama starring Orson Welles, Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh. While honeymooning in the frontier town of Los Robles, Mike Vargas, special narcotics investigator for the Mexican Ministry of Justice, finds himself mixed up in a case of murder, racketeering, and police corruption in the shape of the unscrupulous cop Hank Quinlan.

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Review

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

Tony Sloman

Owing to a misunderstanding between star Charlton Heston and producer Albert Zugsmith, Orson Welles not only appeared in this crime thriller, as corrupt, corpulent cop Hank Quinlan, but also ended up directing it. In this way, Welles made the film that virtually capped a style he had helped create: you could say that the span of film noir started with Citizen Kane and ended with this movie. Originally released by the studio as a co-feature, this has been revealed by time and re-editing to be one of the great American masterworks. It's a deeply disturbing melodrama, pitting Welles against Mexican investigator Heston, which rivets an audience from its now famed opening title sequence to its grisly finale. The composition, dialogue and characterisations are first-rate - this is what cinema can and should be capable of, and it took the genius of Welles the director to turn the cheap novel Badge of Evil into this terrifically entertaining study in depravity.

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7.9/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameRamon Miguel "Mike" VargasCharlton HestonSusan VargasJanet LeighHank QuinlanOrson WellesPete MenziesJoseph Calleia"Uncle" Joe GrandiAkim TamiroffMarcia LinnekarJoanna MooreAdairRay CollinsThe night manDennis WeaverPanchoValentin de VargasSchwartzMort MillsManuelo SanchezVictor MillanRistoLalo RiosTanyaMarlene DietrichStrip club ownerZsa Zsa GaborCoronerJoseph CottenGang leaderMercedes McCambridgeTBCKeenan Wynn

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Crew

rolenameDirectorOrson WellesDirectorHarry Keller

Details

Theatrical distributor

BFI

Released on

2015-07-10

Languages

English | Spanish

Guidance

Contains some violence.

Available on

video, DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Black and white

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