Review of The Big Heat (1953) by Snigdh J — 17 Feb 2011
A very gritty and brutal crime thriller. This is the film which opened up more of a violent type film. The story of revenge flows well and it has a good pace. There is violence throughout the film. The very first scene is a suicide! Most of the violence is fist fights but there are others including a car bomb and scolding. Along with its tough violent scenes there is a lot of tough dialogue. The scenes towards the end are very climatic and is a bit of showdown.
As for the acting Glenn Ford is great as Detective Bannion and he really does stand out during the tough guy scenes, especially when he is delivering the dialogue. Lee Marvin is truly excellent as the villain Vince Stone and is perfectly cast he is violent and tough and should have really been given a bigger role within the film. Gloria Grahame is alright as the 'gangster's moll' but every so often she is annoying, but she does play her role well particularly well towards the end.
Overall a revolutionary style crime thriller with its violence. The whole film has a lot of violence and even more tough dialogue. The whole story and especially the end scenes are very well done. The roles of which the stars have are well suited to their roles, in particular Lee Marvin.
This review of The Big Heat (1953) was written by Snigdh J on 17 Feb 2011.
The Big Heat has generally received very positive reviews.
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