This movie's reputation procedes itself, and for once it's complelty accurate. There's not much praise I can give the move that hasn't already been said, so lets get down to the nitty-gritty.
Based on an obsure novel by Whit Masterson called Badge of Evil, Welles' film takes place over 24-hour period. In a town just inside the American border with Mexico, a bomb goes off, killing a local official. The policeman in charge of the investigation, Hank Quinlan (Welles), agrees to let Mexican cop Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) act as an observer on the case, because Vargas witnessed the explosion. I won't (and maybe can't) repeat all of the twist and turns of the plot, but it's a classic noir premise (Vargas uncovers corruption) shot in a completly new and distincly Wellesian way.
In the restored version I saw (yet again a Welles film was cut-up by the studio, although luckilly the director left a 58 page memo explaining his wishes) is close to perfect. Charlton Heston as a Mexian sounds like a joke, and he doesn't even try an accent, but he does give what is probably the best performance of his carreer. Even more impressive is Welles himself. It must have taken a lot of guts for an obese man like Welles to put himself on the screem at all, but here he makes himself look downright ugly as the sweaty and greasy cop. The supporting perforamnces are all good, including a brief appearnace from Marlene Ditrech. The sole weak leak in the acting (or any part of the film) is Janet Leugh as the female lead, her acting seems old fashioned to the rest of the cast.
No other American film of 1958 looked like Touch of Evil. Welles uses his trademark long takes (including the amazing opening shot) to great effect, and pioneerd the use of the handheld camera in America. The movie exudes a directoral richness and intricy, this is one of those moveis you can watch over and over again and get something new each time.
It is, of course, a masterpiece, required veiwing for anyone with even a basic interest in art of cinema. It kind of says something that I was tempted to watch it again, the night after I saw it for the first time.
Touch of Evil (1958)