Touch of Evil is a 1958 American film noir crime thriller film, written, directed by, and co-starring Orson Welles. The screenplay was loosely based on the novel Badge of Evil by Whit Masterson. Along with Welles, the cast includes Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, and Marlene Dietrich.
Touch of Evil is one of the last examples of film noir in the genre's classic era (from the early 1940s until the late 1950s). Since its release, the film's reputation has grown in stature, and it is now widely regarded as one of Welles's best films.Synopsis
On the U.S.-Mexico border, a time bomb is planted in a car. A man and woman enter the vehicle and make a slow journey through town to the U.S. border, the woman (Joi Lansing) insisting that she hears something ticking. Newlyweds Miguel "Mike" Vargas (Charlton Heston), a drug enforcement official in the Mexican government, and Susie (Janet Leigh) pass the car several times on foot. The car crosses the border, then explodes, killing the occupants. (The cut to the exploding car is the first one in the film, the single-camera opening sequence lasting nearly three and one-half minutes.)
Actors