Themes: Rogue Cops, Vigilantes, Fighting the System
Main Cast: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby, Lee Marvin
Release Year: 1953
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Fritz Lang directed this gritty drama of gangland murder and police corruption, which was considered quite violent in its day. Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) is a scrupulously honest police detective who learns that one of his fellow officers has committed suicide. Bannion is told by the officer's wife, Bertha (Jeanette Nolan), that he was severely depressed after being told he was diagnosed with a terminal illness. But the cop's mistress, a barmaid named Lucy (Dorothy Green), has another tale to tell. She claims that he left behind a suicide note detailing a complex trail of corruption in the department, leading to mob boss Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby), and now Bertha plans to use the note to blackmail Lagana. When Lucy is found dead beside an abandoned road, with her body showing obvious signs of torture, Bannion is convinced that her story was true, and he goes after Lagana. When he threatens to expose Lagana's dealings, the gangster orders Bannion killed. But the car bomb meant to finish Bannion off instead kills his wife Katie (Jocelyn Brando). The police take Bannion off the case, but, convinced his peers are trying to cover their tracks, Bannion follows the case alone, determined to get revenge. Lee Marvin and Gloria Grahame shine in key supporting roles. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
One of the later examples of American film noir, The Big Heat is also one of the genre's most underrated films. Director Fritz Lang utilized many of the elements typical to his other films: unseen yet gruesome violence, relentless pacing, and a hardboiled view of justice and revenge. The sad, realist film has an oppressive feeling of malignity. Glenn Ford is a perfect everyman cop, out for revenge against criminals as well as other cops. In this way, The Big Heat marks a significant transition between the crime movies of two different eras. Prior to the early 1970s, police dramas tended to pit police in very clear opposition to the men in the black hats, with the notable exceptions of On Dangerous Ground or The Big Combo. After the culture shock of the late 1960s and early 1970s, however, films like Dirty Harry, The French Connection and Serpico began an obsession with the ambivalent emotions that make a policeman and his department tick. In many ways, The Big Heat was a precursor for these films, both in theme and tone. The film has drawn ire from some viewers who point out that the its female characters exist, in large part, to be brutally antagonized. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
Jeanette Nolan - Bertha Duncan; Peter Whitney - Tierney; Willis B. Bouchey - Lt. Wilkes; Robert Burton - Gus Burke; Adam Williams - Larry Gordon; Howard Wendell - Commissioner Higgins; Chris Alcaide - George Rose; Michael Granger - Hugo; Dorothy Green - Lucy Chapman; Carolyn Jones - Doris; Ric Roman - Baldy; Dan Seymour - Atkins; Edith Evanson - Selma Parker; Phil Arnold - Nick; Linda Bennett - Joyce; Charles Cane - Hopkins; Sidney Clute - Bartender; John Doucette - Mark Reiner; Al Eben - Harry Shoenstein; Douglas Evans - Gillen; Robert Forrest - Bill Rutherford; Byron Kane - Dr. Jones; Lyle Latell - Moving Man; Harry Lauter - Hank O'Connell; Mike Mahoney - Dixon; Paul Maxey - Fuller; Joseph Mell - Dr. Kane; John Merton - Man; Patrick Miller - Intern; William Murphy - Reds; Michael Ross - Segal; Ted Stanhope - Butler; William Vedder - Janitor; Phil Chambers - Hettrick; John Close - Policeman; Herbert Lytton - Martin; Ezelle Poule - Mrs. Tucker; John Crawford - Al
Credit
Robert A. Peterson - Art Director, Jean Louis - Costume Designer, Fritz Lang - Director, Charles Nelson - Editor, Daniele Amfitheatrof - Composer (Music Score), Mischa Bakaleinikoff - Musical Direction/Supervision, Charles B. Lang - Cinematographer, Robert Arthur - Producer, William Kiernan - Set Designer, George Cooper - Sound/Sound Designer, Sydney Boehm - Screenwriter, William P. McGivern - Short Story Author
Homicide detective Sergeant Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) is an honest cop who investigates the death of fellow officer Tom Duncan. It would seem to be an open-and-shut case, suicide brought on by depression. However, Bannion is then contacted by the late cop's mistress, Lucy Chapman (Dorothy Green), who claims that it could not have been suicide. From her, Bannion learns that the Duncans had a second home which would not have been possible on his salary.
Bannion visits Mrs Duncan (Jeanette Nolan). He asks for particulars on the second home. Mrs. Duncan resents the implication of his suspicions. The next day Bannion gets a dressing-down by Lieutenant Ted Wilks (Willis Bouchey) who is under pressure from "upstairs" to close the case.
Chapman is later found dead after being tortured. Bannion sets about investigating her murder. After receiving threatening calls to his home, and he confronts Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby), the local mob boss.
Bannion finds that people are too scared to stand up to the crime syndicate. When warnings to Bannion to leave things alone go unheeded, Bannion's car is blown up and his wife (Jocelyn Brando) is killed in the explosion. Feeling that the department will do little to bring the murderers to justice, Bannion resigns the force and sets off on a one-man crusade to get Lagana and his second-in-command Vince Stone (Lee Marvin).
When Stone viciously "punishes" a girl in a nightclub, Bannion stands up to him and orders him and his bodyguard out of the joint. This impresses Stone's girlfriend Debby Marsh (Gloria Grahame). Marsh was seen with Bannion, and when she returns to Stone's penthouse, Stone accuses her of talking to Bannion about his activities and throws boiling coffee in her face. With her face half-scarred, Marsh returns to Bannion who agrees to put her up for a while. During this time, Bannion continues his investigation. In a conversation with Bannion, Marsh finds out that the widow Duncan has all of the incriminating evidence of the gang rule hidden away. Bannion tells her that when Mrs. Duncan dies, the truth will come out, and the crime syndicate will be destroyed.
Debby Marsh goes to meet Mrs Duncan. She then kills Mrs Duncan, thus starting the process that will see Tom Duncan's evidence surface. When Stone returns to his penthouse, Marsh throws boiling coffee in his face. Bannion shows up at the penthouse as well. There is a gun battle and Marsh is killed.
Stone is arrested for Marsh's murder. When Duncan's evidence is made public, Lagana and Commissioner Higgins are indicted. Bannion returns to his job at Homicide.
The New York Times and Variety both gave The Big Heat very positive reviews. Bosley Crowther of the Times described Glenn Ford "as its taut, relentless star" and praises Lang for bringing "forth a hot one with a sting."[1]Variety characterized Lang's direction as "tense" and "forceful."[2] Today The Big Heat is considered a classic: critic Roger Ebert lists the film among his category of "Great Movies"; he praises the film's supporting actors.[3]
Writer David M. Meyer states that the film never overcomes the basic repugnance of its hero, but notes that some parts of the film, though violent, are better than the film as a whole. "Best known is Gloria Grahame's disfigurement at the hands of über-thug Lee Marvin, who flings hot coffee into her face."[4]
According to film critic Grant Tracey, the film turns the role of the femme fatale on its head: "Whereas many noirs contain the tradition of the femme-fatale, the deadly spiderwoman who destroys her man and his family and career, The Big Heat inverts this narrative paradigm, making Ford [Det. Bannion] the indirect agent of fatal destruction. All four women he meets—from clip joint singer, Lucy Chapman to gun moll Debby—are destroyed."[5]
Bannion's one-man campaign against a major criminal organization in which he discards the rules in order to get justice done presages many action movies of later years starring Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson and others. One major difference is that Glenn Ford's character does not actually kill anyone. The various deaths are not directly caused by him: he does not kill his wife's murderer, simply spreads rumors that lead to it. At the end of the story the main villains are still alive to stand trial.
