Screening for Monday 28 September: Touch of Evil

Director: Orson Welles
Country of origin: USA
Year of release: 1958
Running time: 112'
Language: English

Campus Film Classics is pleased to announce its return with a screening of Touch of Evil, directed by Orson Welles. The screening takes place on Monday 28 September at 5pm (please note new day and time), at the Institute of Critical Thinking (upstairs the Centre for Language Learning, the previous venue for CFC), UWI main campus. The screening is free and open to the public.

Touch of Evil is a brilliant crime thriller, dark mystery, and a cult classic, the last great film noir during the so-called classic era of noirs. Beginning with one of the best opening shots in all of cinema, Touch of Evil explodes onto the screen with a car blowing up, setting into motion a classic noir tale of betrayal and murder. In a complex exploration of character and morality, Orson Welles plays the racist Captain Hank Quinlan, a grotesque, troubled, and powerful figure who runs his small US border town according to his own version of the law.

Quinlan's brutishness and vulgarity contrast starkly with the idealism and playboy good looks of Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston), a Mexican detective trying to put away the leader of a dangerous family of drug dealers. Vargas becomes consumed with exposing Quinlan and his highly questionable methods--too busy to see that his beautiful American bride, Susie (Janet Leigh) is in serious danger.

In almost every way, Touch of Evil is a masterpiece. Every shot is impeccably crafted, every word of dialogue concise and pointed. The supporting cast, led by Marlene Dietrich, gives exhilarating performances. Welles’ last American film, Touch of Evil is a near-perfect examination of the dark underbelly of society and the tragic downfall of a once proud and powerful man.