The Strangest Vengeance Ever Planned!

Starring: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Marlene Dietrich, Joanna Moore, Ray Collins, Dennis Weaver, Valentin de Vargas, Mort Mills, Victor Millan, Lalo Rios, Harry Shannon

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"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." – Police Capt. Hank Quinlan

Why watch this? This film noir masterpiece was Orson Welles' last, great cinematic effort.

Plot Summary: This dark tale of grimy greed and corruption takes place on the American-Mexican border. The two main characters are Mike Vargas, a Mexican drug enforcement official (and his stunning American wife, Susan); and rotund Police Sgt. Hank Quinlan. When an American business owner's car is blown up, an investigation begins. Quinlan, a monstrous, grotesque beast of a man (portrayed by Welles himself), seems immediately content to jail a Mexican young man. Mr. Vargas discovers that the boy is being framed by Quinlan. This starts an internal war between the two men and it's going to get ugly.

Dad's Preview: Ugliness is very lifeblood of film noir. This film is masterfully directed and shot, with lots of film "tricks" employed by Welles' keen visual eye. There are long tracking shots (namely the Hitchcockian opening 3 minutes, as we slowly follow a car with a ticking bomb in the trunk), sweat-filled close-ups, dank shadow-filled rooms crammed with seedy street urchins. This is all in stark contrast to Janet Leigh as the pristine Susan, a whitefish swimming in a sea of hungry sharks. You'll love this quality crime film, even though a shower afterwards might feel appropriate.

Universal-International