Touch of Evil (1958) — Screenplay
A Mexican narcotics agent battles a corrupt American police captain to solve a murder and save his kidnapped wife in a border town.
- Written by
- Orson Welles, Franklin Coen, Paul Monash, Whit Masterson
- Genre
- Drama, Crime, Thriller, Film-Noir
- Length
- 132 pages
Study Welles's masterful use of deep focus and long takes to build tension, and his morally ambiguous characters that blur the line between lawman and criminal. The script is a clinic in noir dialogue and pacing, with every scene driving the protagonist toward an impossible choice.
Read the full Touch of Evil (1958) screenplay in PDF, page by page, right here on Laper — or download the original script to study Orson Welles, Franklin Coen, Paul Monash, Whit Masterson’s scene work, dialogue and structure at your own pace. A free resource for screenwriters and film students learning Hollywood script format.