In establishing this matrix of border crossings, Touch of Evil «s celebrated opening
shot — mercilessly parodied in Robert Altman's The Player and
sometimes vilified as mere Wellesian exhibitionism — is in fact an entirely
appropriate bit of audacity, and one that earns its place, more so than such progeny as the opening
shot of John Carpenter's Halloween, the tracking
shot from the sidewalk to the stageside nightclub table in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas, the elbow - to - the - ribs opening of The Player.