Touch of Evil review

 Number 163 on the top 1000 films of all time is Orson Welles' 1958 noir classic Touch of Evil.

Miguel Vargas, of the Pan-American Narcotics commission, (Charlton Heston) is honeymooning in a Mexican town with his wife Susan (Janet Leigh.) When a carbomb kills a construction magnate and his wife, Vargas takes it upon himself to investigate.  However, this sends him hurtling to a collison with the Los Roblos detective assigned to the case: the obtuse Captain Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles.) Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff and Marlene Dietrich star in supporting roles.

If Double Indemnity kicked off the noir genre, it was Touch of Evil that solidified the genre in American cinema.  Strong lighting mixed with quirky camera angles and morally-grey characters made for a compelling watch.  This was in no short part to Orson Welles' performance as Quinlan.  Although he was the villain of the piece, he was a villain with a tragic backstory.  

Granted he was grumpy, ruthless and racist, notably with how he wanted to falsely arrest the young Sanchez, without a shred of evidence, he also had a great deal of depth.  I wouldn't necessarily say he was sympathetic, but he was empathetic.

This isn't to disparage Charlton Heston as Miguel Vargas.  He was great as well, but he was more of your cut-and-dry hero who lacked the same depth that Quinlan had.  Although at times, Touch of Evil was a little dialogue/exposition heavy, out of the three Orson Welles films I've seen, including this one: Citizen Kane, The Third Man, this one was definitely my favourite.