MovieChat Forums > Touch of Evil (1958) Discussion > Great direction, flawed script.

Great direction, flawed script.

posted 13 years ago by Dragon_Eye_Morrison
4 replies | jump to latest

I really wish the story was on pair with the fantastic direction. There are several things that really stick out here, for the most part:

-Leigh playing a super naive character, she gets called by some random stranger in the middle of the street and she gladly follows him?

-Heston's clueless character, acting perfectly calm while having the brother of a man he's sending to jail sniffing around him. Then he drops his wife in some lonely motel in the middle of nowhere like nothing.

-The hotel clerk. As another topic here clearly pointed out, the forced un-funny "comedy relief" character was utterly annoying to watch.

-For all the so called "evilness" of the gang that attacks Leigh, they came out being rather tame and not very fearsome. Not much "evil" in their touch.

I can see why the movie gets a lot of praise, the direction is, once more, incredible. Welles was obviously a gifted director, he knew where to put the camera. Nodoby will ever deny that, but the script was just weak and hurts the movie badly.

[–] henrimaine 11 years ago

My thoughts exactly. The film is great in terms of camera work and visual look, as well as some of the acting (Welles, Dietrich). But the plot is kind of weak, even boring, and difficult to comprehend at times. For instance, it took me a while to realize that Heston is supposed to be a Mexican. Also, what did the Mexican "crime family" want from Heston's wife? I quite liked the funny guy in the motel, though.

[–] Charlot47 11 years ago

Agreed that there are imperfections in the story, as there are in some of the best films in history. Even so, the points that have bothered you could be explained:

 Susan is shown as just married and still rather silly. After foolishly walking too close to the burning car, she then very rashly follows a stranger. She has to learn two things. First that her husband has a demanding and dangerous job. Second that Mexico is rather different from the USA and that it does help to learn the language.

 Vargas is shown as a dedicated cop, not yet used to the idea of marriage. Solving the case is his priority, so he dumps Susan where he thinks it’s safe. He has to learn to take more care of his wife.

 The owners of the motel no doubt found the night manager highly annoying as well, which is why they hired him to keep an eye on the place out of season. If they had seen “Psycho”, they might have thought twice.

 The Grandi gang are big on threat but avoid causing serious damage. It would not help the case against the brother in Mexico City if Vargas or his wife were hurt. Their restraint is no protection against the revenge of Quinlan.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] General_Ackbar 10 years ago

I agree with the OP to a point. The first 30 minutes of this film were mesmerizing Film Noir with some truly brilliant directing. The shadows, the angles, the backdrops... All amazing!
Then Act 2 falls flat with the hotel sequence. It's WAY too long, featuring scene after scene of Leigh pounding on walls, the underwhelming "evil" of the Grandi boys who look more like a bunch of goofy greasers, a silly drug scene straight from refer madness, and an unfunny, over the top Night Man who defines the term cringe worthy.
But the story itself is actually pretty good IMO. And the ending is killer. Once we get back to Los Robles the brilliance returns in full force. The oil field sequence is stunning.