Touch of Evil - Legacy

Legacy

In 1993, Touch of Evil was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film was placed #64 on American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Thrills.

The opening scene is replicated midway through Brian De Palma's 1974 camp musical film Phantom of the Paradise. De Palma's version involves a prop car on a theatrical stage being pushed out of the wings with a time-bomb in the trunk and an increasingly panicky blonde passenger. The novel approach here is that De Palma's take was shot in split-screen with Paul Williams's Swan character and the Phantom alternately observing the histrionics from the balcony and proscenium, respectively.

The film is also jokingly referred to in the Tim Burton film Ed Wood. In a scene near the end of the film, Ed Wood (Johnny Depp) is complaining to Orson Welles (Vincent D'Onofrio) about how producers always want the wrong actors to play certain parts in their movies. Welles says, "Tell me about it. I'm supposed to direct a thriller for Universal. They want Charlton Heston to play a Mexican!"

A similar line is used in Get Shorty, where movie fan Chili Palmer invites another character to see a screening of Touch of Evil, saying, "You wanna go check it out? Watch Charlton Heston play a Mexican?" We later see Palmer watching the final scene of the movie, mouthing the words together with the characters on screen. Part of Mancini's score was used as the love theme between Chili and aging starlet Karen Flores, as well.

Touch of Evil is being watched by a security guard at the beginning of Sneakers. Vargas's comments foreshadow the final scenes of Sneakers.

In James Robert Baker's novel, Boy Wonder, fictional movie producer Shark Trager makes it his goal to surpass Touch of Evil's three minute opening tracking shot when filming a movie of his own. Tana's line, "He was some kind of a man. What does it matter what you say about people?" was also quoted extensively in the book.

In the opening scenes of Jeffery Deaver's novel Manhattan Is My Beat, a character, under guard in a hotel, is watching the film. He also comments on Charlton Heston playing a Mexican.

The opening shot is discussed briefly in the opening shot of Robert Altman's 1992 film, The Player, by two characters who work for a fictional Hollywood studio, as the longest opening tracking shot in history. It then goes on to surpass that shot in length. The opening is also referenced by Rainn Wilson in the DVD commentary of The Office episode entitled "Performance Anxiety".

In the independent film Into My Heart, the characters Ben (Rob Morrow) and Adam (Jake Weber) are seen exiting the old Thalia Theatre on Broadway after their 'yearly viewing' of the film, whose name can be seen on the marquee. Before heading to a nearby bar, both declare "I don't drink" in Hank's voice.

The opening scene of Boogie Nights (1997), written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, is a three-minute length shot through a bar, presenting all the main characters of the film. PTA has admitted this is an homage to Welles' Touch of Evil, just as the end of the film is an homage to Scorsese's Raging Bull.

Singer-songwriter Tom Russell has a song titled "Touch Of Evil" on his 2001 album Borderland that references the movie extensively, including the long opening shot and the dialogue between Dietrich and Welles about his future.

In the 2008 film In Bruges, the opening shots of Touch of Evil can be seen playing in the background during the scene when Harry (Ralph Fiennes) instructs Ken (Brendan Gleeson) to kill Ray (Colin Farrell)—in a six minute continuous take.

On the TV show House, Dr. Wilson has a Touch of Evil poster on the wall behind his desk.

Cabaret Voltaire have a song called "A Touch of Evil" on their album Red Mecca.

Apartment Zero opens with a shot of Colin Firth as cinema owner Adrian LeDuc wiping away a tear as he watches the last scene of Touch of Evil.