Touch of Evil or a Touch of Class?

I have always been a fan of Orson Welles, especially with Citizen Kane. It is so impressive how this man writes, directs, and acts in his own films. And Touch of Evil doesn't fall short with this. First, I found Welles character as the crooked detective an amazing performance. He is so intense within this role that it just adds so much to the film.
Not only was I impressed with his acting skills, but I was really intrigued by the cinematography and his direction of the film. Obviously the very long continuous shot in the beginning is amazing and very impressive, and it makes me wonder how many takes it took for Welles to get it just the way he wanted it.
Another shot that I loved was the one of Uncle Joe when he was in his car. The medium shots that Welles used were very interesting and caught my attention right away. Another scene that I really liked was the ending. It is a beautifully composed shot = Vargas underneath the bridge holding his radio, while Quinlan and the other detective are right above him. To me- I feel that scene is a classic piece of cinema- that before this class may have never been a witness to.
I also really enjoyed how this was supposedly one of the last real Film Noir films. I really enjoyed the lighting in Touch of Evil. I thought the shadows were used effectively and truly did create that familiar vibe of Film Noir.
Aside from Welles acting and directing, I found the issue of race and stereotypes to be very interesting in this film. What surprised me was the choice to have Charlton Heston to portray a Mexican in brown face. Don't get me wrong, Heston was a great actor, I just didn't quite understand it at first. Then after reading the posts for the movie, I learned some of the possibilities for why this was done.
The reading discusses how Welles covers Mexican stereotypes and presents them to the audience. He has a gang of Mexicans in the movie, that all cover almost every stereotype in the book- leather jackets, violent, dirty, treat women badly, etc... But he also included Vargas- who doesn't lie, doesn't steal, is clean, and doesn't even look or sound Mexican. I am still trying to wrap my brain around this and what Welles is trying to imply with it. The reading points out that it reveals "predictable stereotypes of the Mexican subjectivity." Maybe having Heston in brown face is to break stereotypes, for it is so obvious to the audience that it is a white man. Does the audience not believe Heston as a Mexican because of his color, or is it because he is just not fitting into the stereotype of being a "Mexican", regardless of his color? I feel Welles is making it so obvious for the viewer to see that stereotypes are not always true. All I know, is it is a very interesting and confusing area to discuss.