I don’t know my film history but is The Big Heat (1953) the first movie where a cop is asked to hand in their badge and gun? Before they embark on a personal quest for revenge against an unjust system? It certainly feels like it. All I knew about The Big Heat was the infamous scene where psychotic gangster Lee Marvin throws a pot of coffee into Gloria Grahame’s face. It happens off-screen but is still conceptually a very brutal and cruel scene, of which the film has many others to share in its depiction of a vicious criminal underworld. Watching The Big Heat for the first time, the film starts out a bit slow and soft with good guy detective Sgt Dave Bannon (Glenn Ford) investigating a cop’s suicide – all the while having a sunny nuclear family with lovely wife (Jocelyn Brando) and daughter to return home to. His investigation upsets the powers that be, particularly when he starts badgering former racketeer and wealthy businessman Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby, who gave off a Ben Gazzara in Road House vibe to me). This leads to Lagana’s wider criminal network and circle of corruption, which includes Vince Stone (a young Lee Marvin) as his gangland lieutenant, a hang dog, angry snarl on his face, and his girlfriend, the film’s femme fatale with a heart of gold, Debby Marsh (Gloria Grahame who is excellent – funny, glamorous and moving – and playing the most interesting character in the whole film). The twists in the story pulled me in more, particularly with Ford’s on-screen paternal wholesomeness being pushed further into darker behaviour, and the relationship (or more accurately “partnership”) between him and Grahame provides the film with some heart (and of course, heat). Directed by Fritz Lang with some classic lighting and staging that adds to the atmospheric ‘noir’ style, and it clocks in at 90 minutes. Rented on iTunes. Recommended.
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