MoltenThought Film Festival: "Touch Of Evil"

And the MoltenThought Film Festival rolls on! This time with a look at Orson Welles's film noir classic, Touch of Evil.

The casting is impressive enough -- with heavy hitters Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Marlene Dietrich and character actors galore. And the shots are, of course, magnificent.

The plot, as such, is fairly familiar archetype with Heston playing the "Mexican" narcotics officer determined to uncover the perps in a string of bombings and murders in a seedy little border town. (With Mexican in quotes because Heston's Spanish is horrible and he's obviously been painted to look swarthy, but such was the era.) Leigh plays the devoted newlywed (with a twist of moxie). Welles the corrupt local law dawg who always -- and I mean always -- gets his man. Marlene Dietrich is the ironic hooker with a heart of gold.

Welles's character is trying to frame Heston. Leigh gets kidnapped, held for a sort of ransom, and implicated in a serious crime. Meanwhile Heston is tracking down lead after lead in Welles's wake of corruption. The ending is a little too tidy and the incriminating evidence convenient, but for a B classic? Pretty good stuff. (The references to "mainlining marijuana" will get a laugh or two.)

But the star of this show is clearly Welles. His eye for the perfect mise en scène makes nearly every detail appear sharper and somehow heightened (with credit to Richard Metty, his cinematographer). In an opening shot reminiscent of Welles's avant-garde, Citizen Kane, we are immediately pulled in by a continuous sweeping shot lasting over three minutes. The blocking is spectacular and Welles never fails to remind us of his genius for stimulating juxtaposition. While the acting is par and the script a little lackluster, the way each scene is conveyed is perfect. By the first five minutes, you can feel the dirty Mexican heat and smell the tequila-ed desperation oozing from the dives and the exhaust clogged road. He uses metaphor anywhere he can (most notably the stuffed trophy of a slain "bullfighter" foreshadowing certain doom) with succinct intention. Beautiful.

The version viewed in the MoltenThought Film Festival Screening Room is the "restored" adaptation, taken from a detailed memo Welles sent the studio after they took the project away from him and butchered -- I mean edited -- it. We at MoltenThought do not recall the "original" release. Neigh did we, would we speak of it.

If you're in the mood for a gritty and visually stunning film where everything ends satisfyingly, go for this one. It's definitely a "B" masterpiece.

Recommended.