Category: Crime

Touch of Evil (1958)

Director: Orson Welles

Screenwriter: Orson Welles based on Badge of Evil by Whit Masterson

Cast: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Ray Collins, Dennis Weaver, Valentin de Vargas, Mort Mills, Victor Millan,Harry Shannon, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Mercedes McCambridge, Joseph Cotton  and Marlene Dietrich.

Tagline: THE STRANGEST VENGEANCE EVER PLANNED!

The Plot…

Miguel “Mike” Vargas (Heston) and his new bride, Susan (Leigh) are visiting a small Mexican/American border town.  Mike is a Mexican Special Prosecutor.  Susan is an American.  Their honeymoon is cut short when a car bomb explodes killing two people.  Although the explosion took place on the US side, the bomb was planted while the car was in Mexico.

Mike tells Susan to go back to their hotel while he assists with the initial investigation.  Hank Quinlan (Welles), the local police Captain, arrives and takes over the investigation.  Quinlan is a recovering alcoholic, and a bigot with a bad attitude.  In short order, Quinlan has a suspect.  He’s a Mexican married to the daughter of one of the victims.  It looks like an open and shut case when two sticks of dynamite are found in a shoebox.  What Quinlan didn’t know is that Mike had accidentally knocked the shoebox over minutes before.  The box was empty.  Mike accuses Quinlan of setting the kid up.

Meanwhile, Susan is stopped before she gets to the hotel.  Her husband is prosecuting a drug case against a major Mexican crime family.  “Uncle” Joe Grandi attempts to scare Susan and sends her to the hotel with a message for Mike to drop the case.  Uncle Grandi learns that Mike won’t back down and that Mike has made an enemy of Quinlan.  Grandi approaches Quinlan and suggests a partnership.  They’ll kidnap Susan and force Mike to do their bidding.

Of course things don’t go as planned for anyone.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

Touch of Evil gets better with every viewing.  If someone preferred it over Citizen Kane, I wouldn’t argue.

Janet Leigh is best known for her role in Psycho.  She shows a wider range here and if Norman Bates saw how sexy her character is, his head would explode.

Welles is the powerhouse behind Touch of Evil.  He adapted the novel and made changes to improve the story.  He starred in and directed the film.  When Universal Pictures locked him out of the editing booth, Welles submitted a 58 page memo of suggestions to improve the cut.  Decades later that happened.  The restored version won several awards and a spot in the National Film Registry.

Heston and Welles have a great supporting cast.  Akim Tamiroff as Uncle Joe Grandi is both funny and scary. Welles wanted Dennis Weaver to improvise.  Weaver took that to heart.  His character is all over the place… and I mean that in a good way.  Zsa Zsa Gabor shows up in a blink-and-you-might-miss-her cameo.  While you can have eyes wide open and miss Joseph Cotton’s.  For Mercedes McCambridge’s role, she dyed her hair, adopted an accent and rough look. While some of the folks are only on screen for a short time, their impact is huge.

Touch of Evil (1958) rates 5 of 5 stars.

The Stone Killer (1973)

Director: Michael Winner

Screenwriter: Gerald Wilson based on A Complete State of Death by John Gardner

Cast: Charles Bronson, Martin Balsam, Jack Colvin, Paul Koslo, Norman Fell, David Sheiner, Stuart Margolin, Ralph Waite, Alfred Ryder, Walter Burke, Kelley Miles, Eddie Firestone, Charles Tyner,  Byron Morrow, Frank Campanella and Robert Emhardt.

Tagline: Take away his badge and he’d top the Ten Most Wanted list!

The Plot…

Detective Lou Torrey (Bronson) killed a 17 year old hood who fired first.  Torrey’s shooting is justified, but the heat is on.  Torrey is quick with a gun and pushes past what is legal to get the guilty.  So Torrey leaves the New York City to become a member of the LA police force.

When Detective Torrey comes across clues that the Mafia is planning something big, no one believes him.  As he digs deeper, Torrey discovers that mercenaries are working with the mob bosses.  Soon Torrey is in their sights.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

Charles Bronson and Michael Winner hit gold with The Mechanic.  Unfortunately, lightning didn’t strike again with The Stone Killer.  It would however, when they teamed the following year with Death Wish.

The Stone Killer is definitely a ’70s movie.  Detective Torrey is made in the mold of Harry Callahan, but The The Stone Killer is at best a poor man’s Dirty Harry.

If you’re a fan of character actors, you’ll enjoy all of the faces popping up throughout The Stone Killer.  You’ll see Martin “Psycho” Balsam, Norman “Three’s Company” Fell, Stuart “The Rockford Files” Margolin, Ralph “The Waltons” Waite, Alfred “Star Trek” Ryder, Charles “The Outlaw Josey Wales” Tyner, Robert “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” Emhardt to name just a few.

The Stone Killer isn’t one of Bronson’s best, but it does have more high falls than a John Wayne western and a car chase worthy of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

The Stone Killer (1973) rates 2 of 5 stars.

The Ledge (2022)

Director: Howard J. Ford

Screenwriter: Tom Boyle

Cast: Brittany Ashworth, Ben Lamb, Louis Boyer, Nathan Welsh, Anaïs Parello and David Wayman.

Tagline: Don’t Lose Your Grip.

The Plot…

The night before a climb, Kelly (Ashworth) and Sophie (Parello) meet four guys in the cabin across the way.  The guys, less experienced climbers, are going up an easier path of the mountain in the morning.  When the fellas invite the girls over for a drink, they agree to “just one”.  After some small talk and the drink Kelly is ready to head back to their cabin.  Sophie decides to stay longer.

After a few more drinks, Sophie is ready to call it a night.  On the way to her cabin she is attacked by one of the guys.  He tries to rape her.  She scratches his face, In their fight he kicks Sophie. She falls twenty feet onto rocks.  When the other guys show up, they are forced to come up with a cover story.  Sophie was drunk. She fell while showing the guys her climbing skills.  Once they have their alibi, the guys throw Sophie off the side of the mountain.

Kelly had heard Sophie’s cries and arrives in time to see Sophie thrown to her death. The men see Kelly and begin to chase her.  Realizing that there is no help around, Kelly begins to free climb the mountain.  Her only escape is up.  The guys grab gear and head up an easier path.  The rock face is too sheer for Kelly to climb down.  They get ahead of her, trapping her on a ledge just below them.  It’s just a matter of time now…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

The Ledge is an okay way to spend a little less than an hour and a half.  Much of that credit goes to Brittany Ashworth.  She’s believable as a climber and likeable as the character.

What keeps the movie from a 3 star rating are the clichés.  Kelly’s lover, also a climber, fell to his death trying to retrieve her engagement ring.  Now she’s climbing in his memory.  The rapist character is a psycho who has been bullying his three friends since elementary school.  Now as adults they continue to hang with him because they fear him.  He’s so bad that he’s been having sex with one of his friend’s wife on a regular basis for years.  The other friends knew but were so afraid they never told.

Still, the situation of being stuck on a mountain top ledge with a psycho right above you provides an interesting scenario.  If there’s nothing better on, give The Ledge a go.

The Ledge (2022) rates 2 of 5 stars.

Reptile (2023)

Director: Grant Singer

Screenplay: Grant Singer, Benjamin Brewer, Benicio del Toro from a story by Grant Singer, Benjamin Brewer

Stars: Benicio Del Toro, Justin Timberlake, Eric Bogosian, Alicia Silverstone, Domenick Lombardozzi, Frances Fisher, Ato Essandoh, Mike Pniewski, Catherine Dyer, Michael Beasley, James Devoti and Matilda Lutz.

Tagline: Shed the Lies

The Plot…

When real estate agent Summer Elswick (Lutz) is brutally murdered, Detective Tom Nichols (del Toro) and his partner, Detective Dan Cleary (Essandoh) get the case.  As they dig into the murder several suspects begin to appear.  There’s Summer’s boyfriend, Will Grady (Timberlake), co-owner of the real estate company she worked for.  The murder victim’s ex-husband also looks good for it.  Then there’s the guy who thinks Grady was responsible for his father’s death.  Maybe he did it to get revenge.

The twisted truth is there.  Nichols will just have to dig through the lies and alibies.  He won’t like what he discovers.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)

Reptile features an excellent cast.

• Benicio del Toro always brings his “A” game.
• Justin Timberlake surprised me.  He plays the boyfriend of the murder victim.  The guy’s just drained due to her death… or is he?
• Alicia Silverstone is great as del Toro’s sexy wife.  She appears to be devoted and in love.  But is she?
• I love when Domenick Lombardozzi shows up in a movie/series.  I first took notice of him in Tulsa King.  Then I went, “Yeah, that’s the guy from…”  Lombardozzi is always solid.
• Eric Bogosian,  Frances Fisher and Mike Pniewski are in smaller, but important roles.  They are welcome additions to the cast.

Hats off to director and co-writer Grant Singer for creating a murder mystery populated by characters that all feel real.  Singer handles the action and quiet moments well.  I look forward to his next project.

Reptile (2023) rates 4 of 5 stars.