Review of The Big Combo (1955) by Jacob O — 12 Aug 2010

Excellent noir. A detective (Cornel Wilde) tries to pin down a ruthless crime boss (Richard Conte)... while falling in love with the gangster's moll (Jean Wallace). While it doesn't have the powerful femme fatale that makes Lewis' Gun Crazy so special, it does have a thick, moody atmosphere, assisted by John Alton's shadowy cinematography.

Conte makes a fantastic villain, who seemingly wields his power simply by daring anyone to be man enough to take it away from him. The trail of corpses he leaves in his wake is impressive, and the film is pretty violent for its time.

.. including the clever use of torture by hearing aid (an item that gets utilized brilliantly later on). Wilde holds up his end as well, driven as much by his infatuation as his sense of justice. Wallace is rather weak, though her role is smaller than you'd expect.

There's some wonderful supporting performances, especially Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman as Conte's (probably homosexual) henchmen.