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How Orson Welles got involved in this production is up for debate. However, in all the stories, Welles was trying to make a Hollywood comeback after finding little success making films in Europe. But things didn’t quite work out the way he wanted. Universal took the film from him and re-edited it. Welles wrote a 58-page memo on how to restore the film, but it was ignored. Even in the butchered version, many critics hailed it as a masterpiece upon its original release. In 1998, the film was restored as best as it could to the desire of Welles.

The film begins with a tour de force, long tracking shot where the audience follows a bomb placed in the trunk of a car. Along the way we meet Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston, BEN-HUR), a Mexican drug enforcement officer, and his new wife Susie (Janet Leigh, PSYCHO), an American blonde. At the end of the shot, the car explodes on the U.S. side of the border and Mike is pulled into the investigation.

Captain Hank Quinlan (Welles) and Quinlan’s friend and longtime partner, Pete Menzies (Joseph Calleia, GILDA) are put in charge of the case. Quinlan, an overweight, racist cop, butts heads with Mike right from the start. “Uncle” Joe Grandi (Akim Tamiroff, FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS), the brother of a drug dealer Mike is trying to put away, threatens Susie, but she stands up to the two-bit pusher. Mike sends her across the border to a hotel where the night manager (Dennis Weaver, DUEL) is a bit off and Grandi is able to unleash a rein of psychological warfare on her.

With immigration still an issue, the film feels fresh and topical today. Quinlan is a grizzled vet who bends the rules as far as they can go. His racism is deep rooted and personal. Everything about Mike provokes him and he would love to show up the cocky Mexican. This pits the corrupt past against the free future. But then we see a softer side of Quinlan through his relationship with the aging prostitute Tanya (Marlene Dietrich, DESTRY RIDES AGAIN).

Underneath the good cop/bad cop tale, there is a frightening kidnap caper. As Mike engages in a mind game with Quinlan, Susie and Grandi engage in their own mind game. Susie surprisingly stands up to Grandi’s first kidnapping threat. Grandi is too sly to overtly threaten Susie, but he finds ways to get to her. The more vicious his actions, the more scared we get, especially because we know Mike is off investigating the bombing.

Welles’ direction and writing is first rate. Watch how brilliantly he sets up key plot point through visuals. An empty box knocked into a sink says volumes in his hands. Look at how he utilizes skewed angles for the torment Susie experiences at the hotel. Then see how he plays on the audience’s worst fears about what could happen to Susie. He knows exactly what to show and what not to show to create the perfect unsettling feelings.

His performance is also one of his best. He brings honesty and heart to a heartless character. He is so genuine that he makes us dread the character even more, especially when he falls off the wagon and we can see him spiraling out of control. While it seems absurd to cast Heston as a Mexican, he is at his best here too. He represents the morals of the character well, and exudes the right kind of confidence and sexuality that quietly enrages Quinlan. Leigh is dynamic as Susie, a spitfire of a woman who seems a cross between fearless and awfully naïve. Calleia is also crucial because he’s the mirror of Quinlan’s decline. He idolizes Quinlan blindly until Mike forces him to see reality. And one should also not miss Dietrich’s sad and confident performance as a woman who has learned how to deal with men like Quinlan. There’s a “seen it all before” quality to her performance that is perfect.

This is one of those films that gains in depth upon repeated viewings. It’s uniquely plotted with various threads working simultaneously, accumulating in enhancing the whole. Welles deals with racism in a way that would be bold now. Even the “good guys” have their prejudices. Welles is brutally honest with a portrayal of race relations. While race is the underlying theme, the film works as a tight thriller at the same time. The truly unique thing about this thriller is how you feel about the villain in the end.

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