Touch of Evil

What a character Orson Welles created in Hank Quinlan, a giant of a man brought down by his own excesses and sorrow. He is the Sheriff who “never let another killer get away” after he failed to capture the man who, many years ago, killed his own wife. So he has taken to acting on his hunches and planting evidence to entrap whoever he suspects. This is Orson Welles’s last great movie and it was by no means a success when released. In fact the story is secondary. It twists and turns and never really engages, but this movie is all about its visual direction and the character created by Welles. It looks the business. He brings to life the sleazy after-hours streets of the Mexican border town where it is set. It contains the very famous opening shot where the camera tracks a car that has a bomb aboard in a long unbroken shot. Amusing to modern audiences is the absolute horror portrayed of narcotics. Even stubs of marijuana cigarettes are recoiled from in fear.