Touch Of Evil (1958) Welles' Tail Fin Noir Masterpiece

I've watched this film many times over the years.

With each viewing the film reveals either something new. or displays an interesting detail just not noticed before. Or you subconsciously noticed but then were overwhelmed by the cornucopia of other sensory delights. Or you did not appreciated then but now through the lens of time gained some significance in pondering. Sometimes I'll just fixate on one of the principals or upon the various minor characters.

If any of you reading this have not seen the film the following may contain <spoilers>

This go round I was intrigued by something that I had not consciously noticed before. During the famous one take three minutes and 20 seconds opening sequence, where Vargas (Heston) and his wife (Leigh) are walking along the main drag sort of parallel and in the same direction to the 1956 Chrysler New Yorker with the dynamite time bomb in it's trunk, there are also two somewhat dueling leitmotifs.

One is diegetic and comes blaring out of the doomed cars radio, there is another for Vargas and his wife which is non diegetic and just seems to hover about them. As each grouping in turn comes into visual prominence, their associated leitmotifs overcomes the other and dominates. Its a sort of aural fencing match.

Opening Sequence

 Tail Fins on a 1956 Chrysler New Yorker 

The dueling leitmotifs opening sequence 

Of course, later on in the film there is also the diegetic pianola leitmotif for Tana and it consequently serves also as the aural signature for the lost love affair between Tana (Dietrich) and Hank (Welles). There may be others I've yet to notice.


Tana and Franks Sequence

the tinkling of the pianola Tana's leitmotif  

Fank Quinlan (Orson Welles)

Tana (Marlene Dietrich)

Another interest that again grabbed my visual attention was the excellent noir stylistic cinematography, the shadows, the Dutch angles, the high and low angles, the interesting transitions, and linked camera movements. I even spotted a faux pas, a shot where it looks as if some of the set that Welles built was accidentally captured in the background.

A timely thought that crossed my mind in this seemingly getting more ridiculous PC age was of the actors that were portraying various ethnicities. Of course you have Carlton Heston portraying a Mexican in sort of brown-face. He's not stereotyping though, he's actually giving a serious performance of a respectable man. He does look a bit ridiculous. But he's acting a part. Of course in hindsight Welles should have cast say an "A" list actor of Mexican or Latino heritage. Anthony Quinn, Ricardo Montalban, Jose Ferrer, Glibert Roland, etc., etc., were around but maybe not available or not interested. But back then though nobody was thinking PC.

Akim Tamiroff a Russian of Armenian descent plays Mexican American gang leader Uncle Joe Grandi, he does a great job aided by a pencil thin mustache and an often askew toupee, he's a professional actor who has played many ethnicities over his C.V., a Pole, a Chinese, Italians, Greeks, Egyptians. Orson Welles himself has played Irish, Italian, Moorish, Mexican. Joseph Calleia (a four classic Film Noir veteran) has played Italians, Hispanics, and Native Americans. Marlene Dietrich has played of course German, but also Eurasian and French.

If you say that an actor can only play his own ethnicity that's obviously going to limit what parts he can play. Anthony Quinn a Mexican played besides Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians, White, a Greek in Zorba The Greek, Italians, Irish, Jewish, etc., etc. Frank Silvera a Black American has played Hispanics, an Italian Frank Rapallo in Killers Kiss, Polynesian and "white"/racially indeterminate parts. Eli Wallach a Polish Jew from Brooklyn portrayed Hispanics Calvera in The Magnificent Seven, and the Iconic Tuco a Mexican bandit in Sergio Leone's The Good The Bad And The Ugly. He also played an Italian Guido in The Misfits.

Actual Hispanics in the cast were Valentin de Vargas, Lalo Rios, Joe Basulto, Yolanda Bojorquez, Domenick Delgarde, Jennie Dias, Eleanor Dorado, and Ramón Rodríguez.

The tale that enfolds is quite prescient (with all the ongoing DNA exoneration's), that of a corrupt cop and his cronies who have planted evidence for years framing, convicting, and burning innocent men along with the guilty.

Finally I noticed all the tail fins on the vehicles......

Enjoy the visuals
Vargas: This isn't the real Mexico. You know that. All border towns bring out the worst in a country. I can just imagine your mother's face if she could see our honeymoon hotel.


Los Robles, It's actually filmed in Venice, Los Angeles, California and the Mojave Desert

Now you can strainrun him through a sieve 

Dist. Atty. Adair: An hour ago, Rudy Linnekar had this town in his pocket.
Coroner: Now you could strain him through a sieve.

Tail Fins

Marcia Linnekar (Joanna Moore) ...

The 20 Sizzling Stripper Club

Uncle Joe Grande (Akin Tamiroff)

Susan Vargas (Janet Leigh) with Uncle Joe

Mike Vargas (Carlton Heston)

.. Police Sergeant Pete Menzies (Joseph Calleia) and Frank .

Los Robles "The Paris Of The Border"

20 Sizzling Strippers 20 Frank - "I want to see all of them."

Susan: You know what's wrong with you, Mr Grandi? You've being seeing too many gangster movies. Mike may be spoiling some of your fun.
'Uncle' Joe Grandi: Mike?
Susan: My husband, yeah! And if you're trying to scare me into calling him off, let me tell you something Mr. Grandi. I may be scared, but he wont be.

"You bet your sweet life I won't."

Possibly Eva Gabor.....

Pancho (Valentin de Vargas) and 'Uncle' Joe Grandi

Zsa Zsa Gabor

1956 De Soto Fireflite Convertible 

High Angle

Mirador Motel Night Manager (Dennis Weaver)

Tail fins and Mojave Desert

Tail Fins 1957 Plymouth Plaza

Billy House

Tail Fins ,1957 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer

Chiaroscuro

Tail Fins 1956 De Soto Fireflite Convertible 

Low Angle

Chiaroscuro

Tail Fins 1957 Plymouth Plaza

The very first Traveling Shot?

HighAngle

'Uncle' Joe Grandi: You just said it yourself. Somebody's reputation has got to be ruined. Why shouldn't it be Vargas'.

Window Transitions. from Leigh to Calleia

Suzie to...

....Pete

Josuha Trees = Mojave Desert

Mercedes McCambridge rt."I wanna watch." 

Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro at Mirador Motel

Chiaroscuro

peek a boo voyeur

Al Schwartz (Mort Mills) lt. 

what a mug

Quinlan: Come on, read my future for me.
Tanya: You haven't got any.
Quinlan: Hmm? What do you mean?
Tanya: Your future's all used up.

Chiaroscuro

Pete Menzies:  You're a killer.
Hank Quinlan: Partly. I'm a cop.
Pete Menzies: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Drunk and crazy as you must have been when you strangled him. I guess you were somehow thinking of your wife, the way she was strangled.
Hank Quinlan:  I'm always thinking of her, drunk or sober. What else is there to think about, except my job, my dirty job?
Pete Menzies: You didn't have to make it dirty.
Hank Quinlan:  I don't call it dirty. Look at the record, our record, partner. Huh?
Pete Menzies:  Sure, sure, sure.
Hank Quinlan:  Well? All those convictions.

Pete Menzies:  All these years you've been playing me for a sucker. Faking evidence.
Hank Quinlan: Aiding justice, partner.

Chiaroscuro

"Sometimes he gets a kind of twinge, like folks do for a change of weather. "Intuition," he calls it."

High Angle

Chiaroscuro

Your future is all used up

Chiaroscuro

Low Angle

Low Angle

Low Angle

Low Angle

High Angel Chiaroscuro

You got her undressed?

'Uncle' Joe Grandi: You got her undressed?
Girl Gang Member #1: Yeah. We have scattered our reefer stubs around.
'Uncle' Joe Grandi:  You kids didn't use none of that stuff yourself, huh?
Girl Gang Member #2: You think we're crazy?
'Uncle' Joe Grandi:  Nobody in the Grandi Family gets hooked. Understand? That's the rule.
Girl Gang Member #1:We blew the smoke at her clothes, that's all.
Girl Gang Member #2: Like you said, we put on a good show to scare her.
'Uncle' Joe Grandi:  Let's hope it was good enough.

Low Angle

"He was some kind of a man"

One of the best, if not the greatest, of the Tail Fin Noirs.