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Rating: 9 stars

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Seen on: 05/22/2012

View on: IMDb | TMDb

The Big Heat (1953)

Directed by Fritz Lang

Crime | Drama | Film Noir

Most recently watched by sensoria

Overview

Tough cop Dave Bannion takes on a politically powerful crime syndicate.  Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment in 1997.

Rated NR | Length 89 minutes

Actors

Adam Williams | Glenn Ford | Jeanette Nolan | John Crawford | Celia Lovsky | Edith Evanson | Lee Marvin | Carolyn Jones | Robert Burton | John Merton | John Doucette | Harry Lauter | Howard Wendell | Dorothy Green | Gloria Grahame | Fritz Ford | Willis Bouchey | Michael Granger | Joseph Mell | Dan Seymour | Charles Cane | Peter Whitney | Linda Bennett | Jocelyn Brando | Alexander Scourby | Phil Arnold | Sidney Clute | Michael Ross | Douglas Evans | William Murphy | Paul Maxey | Lyle Latell | John Close | Ric Roman | Donald Kerr | Ted Stanhope | Byron Kane | Chris Alcaide | Laura Mason | Herbert Lytton | Phil Chambers | Al Eben | Mike Mahoney | Patrick Miller | William Vedder | Norma Randall | Ezelle Poule | Michael Jeffers | Robert Stevenson

Viewing Notes

Now that I’ve finally watched The Big Heat, it’s hard to imagine I’ve gone so long without seeing it. While technically a film noir, The Big Heat easily transcends the genre with uniquely strong female leads and a strong, moral leading man in Glenn Ford.

Lang does bring German expressionism to bear here, certainly, and it’s evident in the stark use of shadows and light throughout the movie. However, there’s a lot more at work here, including some bold statements on current, at the time, social issues, such as assertive post-war modern women. While they’re still portrayed in their classical wife and plaything roles—cooking, cleaning, taking care of the children, or as a sexual plaything—they also make their own decisions, to momentous effect here.

A young Lee Marvin plays a snarling lowlife, the exact opposite of Ford’s morally incorruptible cop, to great effect. He’s a lot of fun to watch and it’s a credit to his acting that you actively hate his character so much.

The real scene stealer is the talented and beautiful Gloria Grahame, who plays Marvin’s companion, for lack of a better word.

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