The Big Heat
Directed by Fritz Lang
Written by Sydney Boehm based on a Saturday Evening Post serial by William P. McGivern
1953/USA
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Repeat viewing/Columbia Film Noir Classics I
#279 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
[box] Debby Marsh: [to Bannion] Well, you’re about as romantic as a pair of handcuffs.[/box]
The Big Heat is the pinnacle of Fritz Lang’s films noir.
Det. Sgt. Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) is an honest homicide detective on a corrupt force. He is in love with his sassy wife Katie (Jocelyn Brando) and little daughter and enjoys a comfortable middle-class existence thanks to Katie’s economizing.
One day, he is called into investigate the suicide of a fellow officer. His widow is properly grief-stricken with Bannion but the audience has already learned that she pocketed a letter her husband left that was written to the D.A. Soon Bannion gets a call from the girlfriend of the officer. She is convinced it could not have been suicide. When she is promptly tortured and strangled, Bannion starts digging deeper despite being warned off by his superiors. His investigation takes him into the world of city boss Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby) and his thug in chief, the vicious Vince Stone (Lee Marvin).
When all verbal threats and warnings fail, Bannion’s wife is killed by a car bomb meant for him. Bannion is converted into a fearless angel of vengence. He receives help from an unexpected quarter. With Gloria Grahame in a superb performance as Vince’s bitter, wise-cracking moll.
Lang pulled out a taut, fast-paced masterpiece from the story of an honest man who is unable to settle for a safe suburban life in a corrupt world. The performances are all career highlights for the actors involved. Grahame in particular provides great wit and intelligence to the sort of seductive yet vulnerable role that Marilyn Monroe would later fill. There are few frills in the visuals. Every frame is dedicated to moving the story inexorably to its tragic finish. One of those films that really should be seen before one dies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNyD7EncPR4
Trailer – cinematography by Charles Lang
