Touch of Evil (1958)
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phantomparticle — 3 years ago(November 18, 2022 10:42 PM)
Someone once opined this is not a great movie, but it is the best b movie ever made.
Welles took what could have been just another mediocre crime drama and turned it into a stylish noir masterwork with a great jazz score and solid performances by everyone involved.
The opening is justly famous. Other fine moments include the murder of
Uncle Joe Grandi
, Dennis Weaver's outrageously over the top motel attendant and a sizzling Marlene Dietrich who sums up Hank Quinlan's corrupt/tragic life in a single sentence.
Much of the dialogue is pure classic noir:
"You better lay off those candy bars. You're a mess, honey?"
An old lady on Main Street last night picked up a shoe. The shoe had a foot in it. We're gonna make you pay for that mess.
You don't leave fingerprints on a piece of string.
Avoid the butchered version released by the studio and watch the restored edition, as Welles originally conceived.
And This, Too, Shall Pass Away -
PygmyLion — 3 years ago(November 19, 2022 05:23 PM)
"You don't leave fingerprints on a piece of string."
I was sort of thinking about the choice of strangling after watching
Dial M for Murder
, a couple weeks ago.- Shooting would make too much noise.
- Stabbing might cause a lot of blood to get splattered on the killer.
Of course, one might consider using a ball peen hammer or something like that.
In
Dial M for Murder
, prior to the murder Ray Milland discusses in detail the before and after of the murder with Swann (the guy he'd hired to commit the murder), but not the murder itself - and that is where the plan fails.
One of the problems with strangulation is that it isn't quick, and the victim might struggle a lot. In
Dial M for Murder
, the strangler Swann is not that much bigger than Grace Kelly and she manages to struggle with him and then stabs him in the upper back with a pair of large scissors (which is almost always a death wound, as it is in the movie).
In
Touch of Evil
, Hank Quinlan looks much bigger than Joe Grandi, but Grandi is a man and Quinlan doesn't have the element of surprise. Quinlan also is quite corpulent,
"You better lay off those candy bars. You're a mess, honey?"
and such a struggle would probably get him rather out of breath. The scene seemed a bit unrealistic to me.
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phantomparticle — 3 years ago(November 20, 2022 07:43 PM)
In Touch of Evil, Hank Quinlan looks much bigger than Joe Grandi, but Grandi is a man and Quinlan doesn't have the element of surprise. Quinlan also is quite corpulent,
"You better lay off those candy bars. You're a mess, honey?"
and such a struggle would probably get him rather out of breath. The scene seemed a bit unrealistic to me.
Joe Grandi would be far more comfortable shooting his victim than fighting him hand-to hand. He relies on his henchmen to do the close-up dirty work. Also, he knows Quinlan's brutal reputation and is terrified of the man. All Uncle Joe wants to do is get the hell out of there.
That gives the massive Quinlan the advantage in the close quarters of the room in addition to an adrenaline rush during which his intake of air is intensified and he only feels fatigue after the act is finished.
And This, Too, Shall Pass Away -
PygmyLion — 3 years ago(November 21, 2022 01:40 AM)
The man, Grandi in this case, whose life is threatened would seem to be the one likely to have the adrenaline rush. Even though Grandi looks a bit soft, he has been a gangster and you would think he would have had some tussles during his life.
I think advancing on a man from the front with a rope between your hands and expecting to strangle him seems unlikely to succeed very quickly. -
spiderwort — 2 years ago(December 09, 2023 10:31 PM)
Except for the amazing nearly four minute one shot opening sequence, I have to agree with you. I had a hard time getting all the way through it, and after I did I didn't really care that much for it that much.
@PygmyLion
Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. 