The movie Orson Welles appeared in for Universal just prior to making Touch of Evil, so it's something of a footnote in movie history. Just a footnote, despite being directed by Jack Arnold who has some pretty nifty credits, and produced by Albert Zugsmith, who was then at his peak. Maybe it's because it starred Jeff Chandler who has never been a critic's darling.
Having said that, this had a surprisingly large amount of similarities with Evil beyond Orson, Zugsmith and Universal - it's a thriller shot in black and white, a neo-noir feel, small town setting in the present day, an honest cop investigating a murder, racial conflict, a leering villain, corruption oozing from every pore. Chandler isn't bad, all craggy integrity.
The main problem is the story is a bit one note - he figures out pretty quickly that Orson Welles is behind the murder, and the rest of the film is just him resisting pressure to call off the investigation. It lacks a subplot - I expected him to romance Welles' daughter but no, Chandler is happily married (to a woman in a nothing part).
Orson has presence, and it's fun to see him in a neo Western saying things like "get off my ranch", although he is a little hammy. The best scene is where Chandler is dragged behind a car through the streets of the town.
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