Review of The Big Heat (1953) by Rainer K — 24 Oct 2012

"The Big Heat" is the reason why we love film noir. Shoot-outs, fist fights, femme fatales, brutal thugs, revenge, and a crooked cop blend together beautifully and build quite an atmosphere-- but there's something special about the film that sets it apart from your average '50's thriller.

It's consistently brutal-- especially the scene where Lee Marvin throws scalding coffee in Gloria Grahame's face-- and its honesty makes the plot feel more authentic. It's a simple tale-- a good cop, Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) is solving the supposed suicide of a colleague.

He has a beautiful wife (Jocelyn Brando), a loving daughter, and faithful friends. His world is turned upside-down however, when a murderer, who appears to be violent thug Vince Stone (Lee Marvin), begins to kill people connected to major crime boss Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby)-- one of them being Bannion's wife.

Leaving behind the laws, he decides to go after the people responsible death: with Stone's moll (Gloria Grahame) is tow, who also wants a bit of revenge. "The Big Heat" is one of the few film noirs that aged the best.

It have to get around censors to make its message lessen, but the story itself is so cruel and violent that even when a horrific event takes place of screen it makes you cringe. Fritz Lang, who is masterful at make dark thrillers like this one, skips around every cliche, and seems to make sure not one minute of the film is predictable.

I was shocked constantly at how evil some of the characters are (the protagonist even battles some serious demons), but that only makes the film better. Everything about "The Big Heat" is hard-boiled.

It doesn't stay in the box, but it doesn't necessarily out. Film noir doesn't get any better than this. Recommended.