STORY STUDY - MEDIUM: FILM - “Touch of Evil”

Murders, corrupt officials, and one man who is on his own to discover the truth? These elements are what make up some of the classic film noir stories of our time.

Directed and written by Orson Welles, and loosely based on the novel Badge of Honor by Whit Masterson (a pseudonym used by authors Robert Allison “Bob” Wade and H. Bill Miller) Touch of Evil revolves around drug enforcement official Miguel “Mike” Vargas and his investigation in the bombing of a car that exploded at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Soon after, American officials, one of them including police captain Hank Quinlan, also arrive to investigate.

The Americans find their prime suspect in his house, and Quinlan promptly arrest him when they find dynamite in a box. However, Vargas tells Quinlan that he saw the box just minutes earlier, and it was empty.

Vargas spends the next few days finding evidence to prove that Quinlan has been planting evidence for a while to help win convictions.

In one of the most iconic, one-take opening scenes, involving a ticking time bomb placed in a car, the film perfectly sets up the tone and protagonist of the film. The tension and unpredictability of when exactly the bomb will go off is nerve-wracking; the kind of emotion you want to feel when watching a crime film.

I hesitate to call this a “mystery” film because Vargas’s investigation of Quinlan’s corruption really has no twist or red herring to it. He was correct in his assumption, and Quinlan’s behavior fits in line with his assumption, so the audience also correctly assumes he is corrupt.

What IS a shock is the revelation of who committed the murder. Although it is only mentioned in passing, it really does make the whole situation that much bleak.

I found the plotline of Vargas’s wife Susie and her being targeted by other parties as a way to frame her for murder and discredit Vargas to be unnecessary. Yes, it gives Vargas more obstacles to conquer through, but in the end, the only difference it made was giving more motivation for Vargas to find the truth. It felt like it was meant to make the mission more personal, and while that may make good drama, if the end result was going to result in the same result (exposing Quinlan) then what was the point?

Also, the fact that Vargas is played by a non-Mexican actor. Yeah…

The film was introduced to me in college, and I can honestly say I prefer this film over Welles’s other film, Citizen Kane, the film he is more famously known for. Maybe it was the fact that this was a crime film and there was more interesting things going on, whereas Citizen Kane was a fictional biopic character study about a real-life person.

Touch of Evil is considered to be one of the last examples of film noir during the classic era, and I do think it delivers. There are three versions of the film (long story) and if I was to recommend which version, it’s the 111-minute version that fits more in line with Welles’ vision. But honestly, I’ve seen all three, and in terms of plot, I don’t really see much difference. If that’s blasphemy… sorry.