I watched "Touch of Evil" (Orson Welles) last night
and wondered what the other resident movie buffs thought about it.
I have a feeling it's one likely to draw a strong reaction either
way: Borrowing the same shoe polish that Welles must have used to
play Othello, Charlton Heston is a Mexican government official
who crosses Welles, a sometimes alcohol-dazed but always slurring
and mumbling corrupt police detective (who strangles one victim
with Janet Leigh's pantyhose), while a soundtrack that echos a
Roger Corman "Bad Girls on Ventura Drive, Drive, Drive"
effort blares throughout any sans dialogue moments.
On the other hand, it did have a very modern look and feel (albeit
stylish and unrealistic). Scenes are bereft of extras, so that
the ambience is one of stark loneliness. Also, a constant
atmosphere of edginess, as though any character/scene might at a
moment's notice explode into violence. Welles is singularly
unattractive but charismatic in a Quasimodo kind of way. Heston
is Heston, and Leigh's character is bovinely stupid and without
sympathy--though she keeps the male viewer's attention.
The climax with Heston wading around under a bridge with a
tape recorder seemed particularly contrived. Evidently, the bug
his cohort is wearing has such a short transmission range that
Heston must get so close to receive from it, he might as
well be wearing it. Still, how can I complain about a movie with
a shoe clerk mad bomber, acid-slinging druggies, Dennis Weaver as
Norman Bates, Marelene Dietrich as the Tarot-reading former
lover, and Janet Leigh wearing an incredibly sexy bustier while
chatting up Heston from her hotel room just before being gang
assaulted and drugged with truth serum?
And then there's the obligatory Zsa-Zsa Gabor cameo...
Anyway, many Moties have expressed admiration for The Third
Man, and though I think this film is inferior, they might
still think it worth a watch.
