My apologies to all of you for leaving out in the last
posting a very important dramatic movie masterpiece released between the
postwar period and 1970. This will
enlarge the list to ten. So sorry!
Touch of Evil
(1 hr & 51 min, b&w,
1958)
This
I consider Orson Welles’ best directorial work next to “Citizen Kane.” He portrays a resourceful man of despoiled
soul and conscience – a police chief in a small Mexican border town, who
resorts to the underhanded to solve a local murder. Mexican narcotics officer Charlton Heston and
Heston’s American wife Janet Leigh, traveling through on their honeymoon are pulled into the dirty affair. The script is based upon a novel by Whit
Masterson, and the haunted and decadent atmosphere Welles creates to bring it
alive on screen is astounding. It is
film noir in essence, though the setting is not some U.S. city but one just as
creepy. And as usual for Welles, the
camera is no mere observer; it heightens our perceptions at every turn. In fact, the footage opens with a four-minute
reverse tracking shot that no cinematographer has ever since matched. It will blow your mind. Be sure to ask for the restored 111-minute
version.
To read other entries in my
blog, please consult its website:
enspiritus.blogspot.com
I welcome feedback. Direct it to bobracine@verizon.net
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