Every film student and cinephile remembers where they were the first time they saw the opening tracking shot of Orson Welles’ 1958 noir, Touch of Evil.
I feel like professors like to show it to kids to blow their minds. I know mine did, and it’s stuck with me ever since.
Even with updated technology, it’s still one of those shots you have to watch over and over to really understand how they did it and timed everything so precisely.
But Welles’ long take isn’t just a gimmick; it’s part of the story, designed to steep the audience in suspense.
Let’s dive in.
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1. Hitchcockian Suspense
People often think this is a Htochcock movie because of all the bold camera choices and suspense, but it is just Orson Welles showing he still has all the directing talent.
Still, the opening is another great example of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic rule of suspense: give the audience information the characters lack.
We learn right away that…
- There’s a bomb with a ticking clock on the car.
- There’s an unwitting couple in the car.
- Our heroes, newlywed Mexican prosecutor Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) and his American wife Susan (Janet Leigh), are constantly crossing paths with the car/bomb.
Those three elements weave in and out of those opening minutes and keep us rapt to the screen. The lack only raises tension, and we’re trying to time it in our minds based on how much is left until it goes.
Fun fact: camera operator John Russell, who navigated the crane for this legendary shot, went on to photograph Hitchcock’s Psycho just two years later. And that also opens with a famous tracking shot through a window.
2. Staging The Shot
This was not shot in Mexico, but in Venice, California. What I love about the sequence is that it lets the audience worry; the camera just drifts to let the scene unfold.
By the time the camera lifts high above streetlights to trace the car from a bird’s-eye view, we get the breadth of the probe; they’re headed to a crowded area.
We swoop down as soon as we see that, tracking again much closer to the vehicle.
There are no cuts, but the car braking and people passing function as ways to subtly change camera angle and position to get you introductions and also raise the tension.
We are tracking the whole environment and feel like active participants in the movie.
3. Walter Murch and Welles’ 58-Page Memo
One of the legends behind this movie was that Universal had the final cut, so we never got to see the Welles edit.
Well, the clip I posted IS what Welles wanted. But it took years for it to get ot the big screen.
Originally, Universal wanted title credits over the screen and blasted a non-diegetic jazz score by Henry Mancini.
In 1998, legendary sound designer and editor Walter Murch re-edited the film based on a famous 58-page memo Welles wrote to Universal executives in 1957.
This is such a cool story; we got the movie restored to the auteur’s vision. Welles explicitly requested:
- No superimposed credits over the long take, allowing the visual momentum to remain clean.
- Diegetic sound design instead of a dramatic orchestral score.
We also have this improved sound design where the music shifts dynamically from car radios, jazz clubs, and street musicians as the camera glides past.
It makes the explosion, the sound we’re waiting to hear, hit so much harder.
Summing It All Up
This opening scene is great to study because it unveils all the rules of suspense. Long takes are awesome to do, but they only stand the test of time if they wrap you in the story and bring the audience along for the ride.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
