The Big Heat – 1953 – Crime, Thriller, Cop
Directed by: Fritz Lang
Written by: Sydney Boehm
Main Players: Glenn Ford; Gloria Grahame; Jocelyn Brando; Alexander Scourby; Lee Marvin; Jeanette Nolan; Dorothy Green
A snub nose lies on a desk before a hand picks it up and a bullet is fired. Suicide it seems. Cop Tom Duncan is dead, and his wife Bertha (Nolan) walks downstairs to find him. A letter penned to the District Attorney at the Hall of Justice lies under the body, and Bertha picks it up, opens it and reads it. She phones for Mr. Mike Lagana (Scourby) who answers the call, hears the news, and suggests the police are the next call.
Gangster Lagana hangs up and next calls for Vince Stone (Marvin), however gets his girl Debby Marsh (Grahame) first, who yells for him. Tough guy violent scumbag Vince picks up the phone and talks over the news of the recent suicide. Wheels are in motion.
On scene, Sergeant David Bannion (Ford) is required since a report is necessary when a cop kills himself. No note was found, so info is light. Bannion talks to the widow Duncan. Bertha is broken up and sure her husband was clean and wholesome. She figures his health must have drive him to kill himself, as he had complained about a left-side pain over the past few months. That’s the story that hits the papers.
Bannion’s home life is cozy with his wife Katie (Brando) and his young daughter. He does the usual 50s things, and eats gigantic slabs of meat. His wife preps a good steak and shares a beer. Wild times. Too bad the phone rings. The station is saying possibly Tom Duncan didn’t kill himself?!
A club barfly girl Lucy Chapman (Green) may have more info. When interviewed, she says she saw the papers, and knows it’s hogwash. But what does she know, and how is she tangled up in things? What will the widow Duncan say?
The Big Heat is a classic noir with a good story. It has all the usual elements: dead bodies, rugged hero cops, conflicting stories, more dead bodies, double crosses, schemes, and more. The cast and acting is top notch, and the story trots along quickly with a short runtime.
The dialogue is pretty solid on this one, and its story is fairly serious with some dark turns. At times 50s speak can get a bit hammy or goofy compared to today’s vernacular, but overall, this one plays it pretty cool most of the time. The good guys are good, and the bad guys bad. The basic story intro grows into a good winding crime tale, and it is a journey worth taking if you like old school noir.
This has a classic line, “You’re about as romantic as a pair of handcuffs.”
See This If You Liked:
Where the Sidewalk Ends; Touch of Evil; The Big Combo; Out of the Past (1947); Kiss Me Deadly (1955); Double Indemnity (1944); Scene of the Crime (1949); The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Score:
8.5