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Analyzing The Film 'A Touch Of Evil'

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Analyzing The Film 'A Touch Of Evil'
A Touch of Evil (1958) is a dark film noir melodrama from director Orson Welles who also stars as corrupt police chief Hank Quinlan. A Touch of Evil takes place in a small Mexican-American border town. Particularly handsome Charlton Heston is nicely tanned to play the role of Mexican born narcotics investigator Mike Vargas. His wife Susan, an American blond beauty played by Janet Leigh makes the other policemen envious of Mike. Moreover, this murky sinister thriller is a classic film study in police corruption and stereotyping of minorities in Hollywood. Furthermore, Welles stylistic film noir classic is filmed using a drab lighting appearance with the feeling that it is always dusk in this shabby border town.
Notably, Henry Mancini’s musical …show more content…
Sanchez insists he is innocent and is being framed for his murder. Director Orson Welles has been heralded for his use of this twelve minute long interrogation scene in Sanchez’s cramped apartment (Morrow, 2016), making the audience feel a bit overwhelmed and claustrophobic. Quinlan’s partner deputy Menzies (Joseph Calleia) helps to plant dynamite in Sanchez’s bathroom. A room that Vargas has already searched without finding any evidence. Vargas smells something suspicious and vows to find the truth. With this, Quinlan plots to set Susan up as murdering drug addict, this would giving Vargas less …show more content…
Welles use of the camera angles to gain the sinister intentions of the corrupt police chief Quinlan, head drug leader Joe Grande and his unsavory gang of thugs is masterful. But, throughout the film we are left with one question…why was Linnekar murdered? Why was Quinlan so shaken by Vargas to commit murder?

References
Catalog of Feature Films. (n.d.). Retrieved July 29, 2017, from http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=53683
Ebert, R. (1998, September 13). Touch of Evil Movie Review & Film Summary (1958) | Roger Ebert. Retrieved from http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-touch-of-evil-1958
Hagopian, K. (n.d.). Touch of Evil Film Notes. Retrieved July 27, 2017, from http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/filmnotes/fnf00n3.html
Morrow, J. (2016, December 22). Watch: How Orson Welles Hid a 12-Minute Single Take in Plain Sight. Retrieved from http://nofilmschool.com/2016/12/watch-orson-welles-touch-of-evil-long-take
Touch of Evil (1958) Movie Quotes. (n.d.). Retrieved July 29, 2017, from http://www.quotes.net/movies/11785
Welles, O. (Director). (1958, January 1). Touch of evil [Video
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