For tonight, we’ll leave the sacred Citizen Kane and the noir debate for another day, focusing instead
on two other Orson Welles’ films, each with a unanimous noir stamp.

A Touch of Evil — Charlton
Heston, as the force for all that is good, never really challenges the
slovenly evil Orson Welles for the
center of attention in this late noir (1958) film, also shot by cinematographer
Russell Metty. The action takes
place in seedy adjacent towns straddling the border of Mexico and the U.S. With
exception of those scenes in which Welles — bloated, unshaven, sweating and
slobbering — held forth as a corrupt border town sheriff, I had the feeling I
was watching a film made for television. But when Welles was on, he filled the
screen and, well hell, he scared me. Even the sets he chewed were more
impressive during his scenes. No doubt
this is a worthwhile film for noir lovers, but there was more ‘60s than ‘40s in
the atmospherics and I prefer the latter. The cast was also a curious lot. In addition to Janet Leigh and the notable performance of Akim Tamiroff, we have brief appearances by Joseph Cotten, Marlene
Dietrich, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Dennis Weaver. Orson Welles directed
the film based on author Whit Masterson’s
novel, Badge of Evil.
The dirty sheriff in Touch
of Evil drank his bourbon straight up perhaps one too many times. Don’t be a dirty sheriff. Think Vienna. As I understand it, the Viennese drink lots
of coffee and beer.
2 comments:
Not to be a nag about this ...
Joseph Cotten.
With an E.
Sorry, but this always drive me crazy.
Thanks Mike. I appreciate it.
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