or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
17 used & new from £2.72
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Touch Of Evil [DVD] [1958]
 
See larger image 

See all 2 customer images
Share your own customer images

Touch Of Evil [DVD] [1958]

DVD ~ Charlton Heston
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
RRP: £15.99
Price: £3.98 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £12.01 (75%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Items for dispatch to UK will be sold by Amazon's Preferred Merchant. (Why?)

15 new from £2.72 2 used from £5.50
Learn about Lovefilm
Amazon's choice for DVD rental.
With a 14 day FREE trial. Learn more

Frequently Bought Together

Touch Of Evil [DVD] [1958] + The Third Man [DVD] [1949] + Orson Welles - Screen Legends - Citizen Kane / A Man For All Seasons / Waterloo / Lady From Shanghai [DVD]
Total RRP: £58.97
Price For All Three: £15.24

Show availability and delivery details

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Touch Of Evil [DVD] [1958]
87% buy the item featured on this page:
Touch Of Evil [DVD] [1958] 4.1 out of 5 stars (18)
£3.98
Orson Welles - Screen Legends - Citizen Kane / A Man For All Seasons / Waterloo / Lady From Shanghai [DVD]
5% buy
Orson Welles - Screen Legends - Citizen Kane / A Man For All Seasons / Waterloo / Lady From Shanghai [DVD] 5.0 out of 5 stars (5)
£4.88
The Third Man [DVD] [1949]
4% buy
The Third Man [DVD] [1949] 4.7 out of 5 stars (46)
£6.38
The Night Of The Hunter [DVD] [1955]
3% buy
The Night Of The Hunter [DVD] [1955] 4.5 out of 5 stars (27)
£4.48
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Actors: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff
  • Directors: Orson Welles
  • Format: Black & White, PAL
  • Language English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 12
  • Studio: Universal Pictures UK
  • DVD Release Date: 24 April 2006
  • Run Time: 105 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000E3LIOU
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,637 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    Popular in this category:

    #30 in  DVD > Classics > Drama

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

Considered by many to be the greatest B movie ever made, the original-release version of Orson Welles's film noir masterpiece Touch of Evil was, ironically, never intended as a B movie at all--it merely suffered that fate after it was taken away from writer-director Welles, then reedited and released in 1958 as the second half of a double feature. Time and critical acclaim would eventually elevate the film to classic status (and Welles's original vision was meticulously followed for the film's 1998 restoration), but for four decades this original version stood as a testament to Welles's directorial genius. From its astonishing, miraculously choreographed opening shot (lasting over three minutes) to Marlene Dietrich's classic final line of dialogue, this sordid tale of murder and police corruption is like a valentine for the cinematic medium, with Welles as its love-struck suitor. As the corpulent cop who may be involved in a border-town murder, Welles faces opposition from a narcotics officer (Charlton Heston) whose wife (Janet Leigh) is abducted and held as the pawn in a struggle between Heston's quest for truth and Welles's control of carefully hidden secrets. The twisting plot is wildly entertaining (even though it's harder to follow in this original version), but even greater pleasure is found in the pulpy dialogue and the sheer exuberance of the dazzling directorial style. --Jeff Shannon

Synopsis

Orson Welles's Touch of Evil is nothing short of a masterpiece. Beginning with a three-minute-plus tracking crane shot, the film explodes onto the screen, literally the marvelously expressive opening shot ends with a car blowing up, and that detonation sets into motion a classic noir tale of betrayal and murder. In a complex exploration of character and morality, Welles plays the racist Captain Hank Quinlan, a grotesque, troubled, and powerful figure who runs his small U.S. 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 Charlton Heston as Mike Vargas, a Mexican detective trying to put away the leader of a dangerous family of drug dealers the Grandis. In the U.S. with his new bride, Susie (Janet Leigh), Vargas becomes consumed with exposing Quinlan and his highly questionable methods too busy to see that his own beautiful blonde bride is in serious danger from both Quinlan and the Grandis. In 1998, Welles's film was restored closer to its creator's original vision, and it is a joy to behold. Every shot is impeccably crafted, every word of dialogue concise and pointed. The camerawork (by Russell Metty and John Russell) is stunning, particularly in the opening scene and the long single take in which Vargas believes he has caught Quinlan planting evidence. The supporting cast, led by Marlene Dietrich, Dennis Weaver, Akim Tamiroff, and Joseph Calleia, gives exhilarating performances. Touch of Evil, Welles's last studio film, is a near-perfect examination of the dark underbelly of society and the tragic downfall of a once proud man.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Magnificent Ambersons [DVD] [1942]

The Magnificent Ambersons [DVD] [1942]

DVD ~ Joseph Cotten
4.4 out of 5 stars (5)  £4.08
The Lady From Shanghai [DVD] [1948]

The Lady From Shanghai [DVD] [1948]

DVD ~ Rita Hayworth
3.9 out of 5 stars (7)  £4.98
The Third Man [DVD] [1949]

The Third Man [DVD] [1949]

DVD ~ Orson Welles
4.7 out of 5 stars (46)  £6.38
The Stranger [DVD] [1946]

The Stranger [DVD] [1946]

DVD ~ Orson Welles
4.7 out of 5 stars (3)  £2.98
The Trial [DVD] [1963]

The Trial [DVD] [1963]

DVD ~ Anthony Perkins
3.7 out of 5 stars (11)  £5.48
› Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
Agree with these tags?

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

18 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars a dark and twisted thriller, 6 Jan 2005
By Alejandra Vernon "artist & illustrator" (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Touch Of Evil [DVD] [1958] (DVD)
A wild, quirky ride of corruption and intrigue, this noir thriller is brilliantly acted by Orson Welles and Charlton Heston, where Welles, as an American sleazy police chief investigating a murder in a Mexican border town, tangles with Heston, as his counterpart in the town. Welles was originally just slated to act in this film, but at the insistence of Heston, he was also made director.
The critical and box office response was poor however, and so disappointing to Welles, that he never made another film in Hollywood.

The cast is terrific: Janet Leigh plays Heston's naïve bride, and Akim Tamiroff one of the town's major bad guys. It also has a number of interesting cameos (though if you blink you might miss some of them), including Joseph Cotton, Keenan Wynn, Dennis Weaver, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Mercedes McCambridge, and best of all, Marlene Dietrich, who looks up from her tarot cards to tell Welles "your future is all used up".
Russell Metty's cinematography is unique and innovative, and Henry Mancini's jazz score outstanding.

Peculiar and bizarre, this film needs more than one viewing to fully appreciate, and to sort out its complex plot of many crooked paths. Welles also wrote the script, and it is spoken in a realistic manner, with dialogue overlapping, and people talking at once.
Heston thankfully does not have accented English, but instead looks handsome with dark makeup and a mustache, on the other hand, Welles has a speech pattern that fits his seedy character, as he slurs and sputters through his words.
This is a stupendous, one-of-a-kind piece of filmmaking, now acknowledged as a classic noir.
DVD extras include Welles' memo, theatrical trailer, production notes, cast and filmmakers. The film has been beautifully restored, and total running time is 1 hour and 51 minutes.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "He was a good detective, and a lousy cop", 11 Nov 2003
This review is from: Touch Of Evil [DVD] [1958] (DVD)
The greatest "B movie" of all time.

What started out as a contractual obligation of Orson Welles grew into the creation of a finely directed and competently acted masterpiece of cinema history. Adapted from the book "Badge of Evil" this is a story of police corruption along the Mexican border. This film has everything! The opening sequence illuminates the flawless cinematography (this is the five minute tracking of the car), superb acting (Of course, Orson Welles and Charlton Heston are in the picture) and genre defining one liners that have become cinema history (the final word from Marlene Dietrich - need I say anymore?). This is film noir at its most bewitching. Savour every second from one of the greatest films from cinema's golden age.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars NOT the original - but still worth it, 11 Dec 2008
By Carl Vaughan "CTV" (Essex UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Firstly, this is NOT - EMPHATICALLY NOT - the 1958 original. The opening contains a rationalisation of the restoration process, the screen credits are removed, and - most importantly - Henry Mancini's magnificent score is removed. If this doesn't bother you, then this ranks alongside The Maltese Falcon and The Third Man as among the greatest films of the Black and White era. Film historians and Universal Pictures please take note *This film rightly became a classic before anyone "restored" it*, and it should be available in a 2-disc edition (Somewhat in the way Blade Runner now is). Having said all that, Awesome Orson was never better than here - his portrayal of the fall of Hank Quinlan is breathtaking, and with fine performances from Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, and an underappreciated Joseph Calleia, not to mention Marlene Dietrich's last great role, there is not a dull moment in this masterpiece.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Unsatisfactory
Like an old King Fu movie the sound quality on the dvd had the lips moving ahead of the sound. Very annoying. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mrs. L. Francis

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as its reputation
Touch of Evil opens with what must be one of the finest sequences ever but after that I found the film to be slow in places and marred by some overacting. Read more
Published 15 months ago by J. Bloss

4.0 out of 5 stars Grimy and gritty film noir
Mexican narcotics officer Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) and his bride (Janet Leigh) have just ended their honeymoon in a border town when they become involved in a murder... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Kona

4.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest Opening Sequence Ever?
Dark, entertaining, messy, but very rewarding. My favourite Welles. Dietrich, Leigh & Heston on top form too. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mr. G. C. Stone

2.0 out of 5 stars Restored and Ruined
A great film has been ruined by changing the aspect ratio to widescreen. Actors lose the tops of their heads and the picture looks a bit fuzzy to me. Read more
Published on 2 Aug 2007 by Mr.D.

5.0 out of 5 stars Crazy formatting
The people at Universal should be taken out and shot.
They have screwed up a fantastic and beautifully restored masterpiece by cropping it from it's original 4:3 format to... Read more
Published on 14 May 2007 by A. B. Ogilvie

5.0 out of 5 stars Evil restored
This restored version of "Touch of Evil" is well worth getting. It is an intriging film-noir that keeps you guessing as to whats going on. Read more
Published on 13 May 2007 by S J Buck

4.0 out of 5 stars Loses Pace in the Middle but the Clash of Heston and Welles Lifts It
Touch of Evil was proably the last great piece of work from Orson Welles before he slipt into the world of food adverts (and food!). Read more
Published on 5 Nov 2006 by Mr. A. E. Hall

1.0 out of 5 stars Boredom at the Border
Virtually unwatchable even in its 'restored' form, 'Touch of Evil' shows what happens when an artist attempts to write his signature over every inch of canvas... Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2005

5.0 out of 5 stars He was some Kind Of A Man
Yeah I know others have used this line but it is so appropriate that you can not improve on it. How about "Your future is all used up. Read more
Published on 11 Sep 2005 by bernie

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
subitles 0 February 2009
› See all discussions...  
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject






i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.