The Big Heat (1953)

Another Great Noir From Fritz Lang. 4 1/2 Stars
Fritz Lang is one of the best known directors of Film Noir, and one of the most respected. With good reason. His films, such as Metropolis, M, The Woman in the Window, Scarlet Street, House by the River, Clash by Night, etc, are considered to be classics.

The Big Heat is one of Lang's better movies, thanks to an outstanding script, great performances from the cast (Glenn Ford gives another understated, but powerful performance, Lee Marvin is excellent as the menacing thug, and Gloria Grahame is, well, Gloria Grahame - in a part you'd think was written for her), and, of course, thanks to the great direction of Fritz Lang himself.

This is a more straightforward detective/crime thriller than many of Lang's other movies, but he handles it extremely well. Ford is homicide detective Dan Bannion, who is assigned to investigate the suicide of a fellow officer. Bannion uncovers indications that this wasn't just a case of depression, and he stumbles into a case that some of his superiors want closed as a suicide and nothing more. With so much pressure from above to just let the whole thing go, Bannion forges ahead, getting into trouble along the way - trouble that would have tragic consequences for him.

The Big Heat delivers on all counts, and while not quite as NOIR as many Films Noir (it would fit in the Police Procedural category of Film Noir), it still fits squarely in the genre with many dark twists and turns - and some fairly brutal scenes.

This is definitely a, "Must Have," movie for all Film Noir buffs, and for most fans of classic films in general. Highly recommended.

The Naked City
Take one honest but world wise urban cop played by Glenn Ford. Take a gangster ridden town run by the mob. Take a genuine `bad guy' enforcer played by a young Lee Marvin and his wrong side of the tracks but heart of gold girlfriend played by the legendary B actress Gloria Grahame and you have a fair B side noir film. The dialogue is a little thin and the melodrama gets laid on a little thick but it will not be the worst time you have every spent. If nothing else look at it to see the Grahame performance. It is a classic portrayal of the type.

"The city's being strangled by a gang of thieves"
"The big heat" (1953) is a classic film noir in black and white, directed by Fritz Lang. This movie is characterized by an intriguing plot, fast pace, and good acting, something that never gets old.

The main character is Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford), an honest cop that due to unforeseen circumstances and his need to do the right thing falls in the middle of a nightmare, losing what is dear to him. As a consequence, nothing will stand in Bannion's way in his new mission: to wreak havoc on those responsible for what destroying his life. All bets are off...

Even though "The big heat" includes some scenes with plenty of violence, this is the kind of movie that I would like to see again, because it is so good that you cannot fully appreciate it the first time around. The main character is extremely well-drawn, and you can identify with him in his quest for vengeance and justice. What is more, there are some secondary actors that do an outstanding job, specially the young woman that plays Debbie Marsh (Gloria Grahame), the beautiful girlfriend of one of the gangsters Bannion is after.

On the whole, I can say that I recommended this splendid movie, as an excellent example of what a great film noir should be like...

Belen Alcat