Over this past weekend, I discovered how to watch movies online. I watched two film noirs: Double Indemnity (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI73zPyYq1o&feature=PlayList&p=E3AA00E725036B6C&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=23)and Touch of Evil (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l21H_XKWX0U&feature=PlayList&p=BC9D162BDF409A29&index=0). By far, I enjoyed Touch of Evil more. Touch of Evil is considered to be the "last" film of the film noir genre. It was written and directed by Orson Welles, who even co - starred in this film. This film begins with an amazing tracking shot that is actually considered to be one of the best tracking shots in the history of cinema! This is a continuous shot that lasts for approximately three and a half minutes. The shot begins on the Mexican/U.S. border and it pursues a car that just had a bomb planted in it. Soon, we see a couple walking down the street, who turn out to be the main characters, Miguel "Mike" Vargas (played by Charlton Heston), a drug enforcement official with the Mexican government, and Susie Vargas (played by the one and only Janet Leigh). This shot ends with this couple witnessing a car bomb explosion that kills the two people inside of the car. This instigates a major investigation that involves both the U.S. and Mexican police.
Soon, we get introduced to some new characters as Police Chief Pete Gould (played by Harry Shannon), District Attorney Adair (played by Ray Collins), Captain Hank Quinlan (played the famous Orson Wells), and Quinlan's partner, Pete Menzies (played by Joseph Calleia) arrive on the scene. As Quinlan and Menzies question a suspect, Mike Vargas goes to the bathroom and accidently bumps a shoe box into a bathtub. Vargas does not think too much of it and puts it back in its original place. Soon after, Menzies declares that some sticks of dynamite were found in a shoe box in the bathroom. Vargas concludes that Quinlan has been intentionally planting evidence to help him win arrests for years. Vargas confronts Quinlan about this and Quinlan calls Vargas racially biased and thinks that he completely supports his fellow Mexicans.
So, Mike Vargas tries to take matters into his own hands by investigating Quinlan. As he is doing so, his wife Susie is kidnapped by a gang member of the Grande crime family and is held at the family's hotel. As the film goes on, Vargas concludes that Quinlan has actually been planting evidence in order to win arrests for years. Vargas now has the difficult task of trying to prove Quinlan guilty of planting evidence while also trying to rescue his wife.
Overall, I really liked this movie a lot! Unlike Double Indemnity, I thought that Touch of Evil was much more suspenseful and had many twists and turns. It definitely kept me guessing about what was going to happen next. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone looking for a good thriller/suspense film. I can't say the same about Double Indemnity though..... :(
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