This suspense movie contains intrigue , thrills , plot twists and layered dialog prevail . A stark , perverse tale of murder , treason , kidnapping , and police corruption in a sleazy Mexican border town . As starring 'Mike' Vargas (Charlton Heston who cited not doing a Hispanic accent for his Mexican role as one of the biggest mistakes he ever made as an actor) has to interrupt his honeymoon along with his wife (Janet Leigh who initially rejected her participation in this film due to the low salary offered without even consulting the actress ) when an American building contractor is murdered . Idolized alcoholic Police Captain Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles) and his Sergeant, Pete Menzies (Joseph Calleia), are in charge on the US side and Hank soon has a suspect . But things go wrong when Vargas discovers Quinlan puts fake evidences against the prime suspect . Quinlan joins forces with Grandi (Akim Tamiroff) , who seeks revenge against Mike , to impugn Vargas's proofs .
This overwhelming masterpiece of the strangest vengeance ever planned is plenty of suspense and twisted intrigue from start to finish . Awesome opening , justifiable known , shot in stylistic way begins this over-the-top picture . ¨Touch of evil¨ failed in the U.S. but won a prize at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair , here director/player proved that he was still a filmmaking genius . Excellent acting by the great maestro Orson Welles playing the life of yet another ruthless character , he stars a corrupt inspector with a shady past and obscure present , planting evidences to detain suspects . Orson Welles was originally hired only to act in the film , but due to a misunderstanding, Charlton Heston thought that Welles was to be the director , to keep Heston happy, producer Albert Zugsmith allowed Welles to direct . Support cast is frankly magnificent , such as : Akim Tamiroff , Joseph Calliea , Dennis Weaver , Ray Collins , Joanna Moore , Marlene Dietrich , Zsa Zsa Gabor , among others . Oscar winner Mercedes McCambridge only appears in the film because she was having lunch with Orson Welles during filming and Welles convinced her to film a scene . Attractive and dazzlingly photographed in black and white by Russell Metty . The entire film was shot on real locations, apart from the infamous ten-minute take in the Mexican shoe store clerk's apartment, which is actually a set , Welles and Metty insisted on filming in a real city , settling for Venice, California, when he couldn't get his initial choice of Tijuana . Rousing jazzy musical score by the maestro composer Henry Mancini , including Latin rock sounds . Although much of the music used throughout the movie was from sound sources that pertained to the film: radio transmissions, jukeboxes, player piano . And being ulteriorly reconstructed according to Welles'notes in 1988 .
The motion picture was stunningly directed by Orson Welles who shot predominantly at night in order to fend off meddlesome studio suits . Welles was a genius who had a large and problematic career . In 1938 he produced "The Mercury Theatre on the Air", famous for its broadcast version of "The War of the Worlds" . His first film to be seen by the public was Ciudadano Kane (1941), a commercial failure , but regarded by many as the best film ever made , along with his following movie , The magnificent Ambersons . He subsequently directed Shakespeare adaptation such as Macbeth , Othelo and Chimes at Midnight or Falstaff . Many of his next films were commercial flops and he exiled himself to Europe in 1948 . In 1956 he directed this great masterpiece Touch of evil (1958) but Orson was fired as director during post-production, and the film was recut contrary to his wishes ; before his death, he left instructions on how he wanted the film to be edited, and in 1998 a version was made the way he intended . In 1975, in spite of all his box-office flops , he received the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 1984 the Directors Guild of America awarded him its highest honor, the D.W. Griffith Award . His reputation as a film maker has climbed steadily ever since.
