Review of The Big Heat (1953) by J J — 27 May 2011

Noir about a man standing up to widespread corruption only to have his so called friends turn his back on them and his life bought to ruins, basically, it's one of those 'maverick cop, out for revenge' stories.

Good performance from Lee Marvin as Lagana's sadistic right hand man, the only minor dissapointment was Genn Ford in the title role, his performance was pretty one note throughout the film even though his character underwent many hardships. The intensity was there, I just would have liked a bit more range.

All in all, Fritz Lang managed to create a highly effective noir thriller that still holds up in spite of some plot elements that may seem cliched by todays standards.