Murder, madness, sex and violence inhabit Orson Welles’ noir-ish masterpiece about a narcotics cop’s quest for the truth amidst a world of corruption and carefully hidden secrets. A peerless foray into a nightmarish underworld.

When a car bomb explodes on the American side of the seething Mexican border, Mexican narcotics agent Miguel Vargas (Charlton Heston) opens an investigation. However, he soon finds his own inquiries becoming progressively more obfuscated by the separate investigations of American police captain Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles, here in his most unforgettably imposing role) – a local hero despite his dubious intuitions and bloated bigotry. When Vargas begins to suspect that Quinlan and his shady partner may be framing an innocent man, his investigations into their possible corruption put himself and his new bride, Susan (Janet Leigh), in jeopardy.

Bookended by one of the most breathtaking opening sequences in movie history – a miraculously choreographed three minute shot - and Marlene Dietrich's classic final line that serves as closure to this outstanding film; this sordid tale of murder and police corruption remains - 57 years on since its original release - endlessly watchable and continually astonishing.

• The screening of Touch of Evil on Tue 21 July is part of our Cinébites deal: Get 30% off any main dish in the Café/Bar with a valid cinema ticket.

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