The Big Heat

Fritz Lang’s The Big Heat is a nihilistic 1950s noir that raised screen violence to new heights — with, among other things, a notorious scene involving Lee Marvin as a psychopathic gangster, Gloria Grahame as a gun moll, and a pot full of scalding coffee. The film’s ostensible good guy is Sgt. Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford), an honest cop serving on a corrupt police force in a city controlled by the Syndicate. Investigating the suicide of a fellow office, Bannion is ordered off the case by his superiors; his decision to ignore those orders imperils his family, and turns him into an avenging angel whose ferocious methods mirror those of his adversaries. Director Lang opts for a stripped-down, spare, hard-as-nails approach, with stark cinematography, an economical narrative, terse dialogue, and minimal use of music. “The movie is all of a piece; it’s designed in light and shadows, and its underworld atmosphere glistens with the possibilities of sadism — this is definitive film noir, with a few stunningly choreographed nasty scenes” (Pauline Kael). “In view of these outrages, Lang’s violent mise-en-scène implies, the world must be destroyed before it can be purified” (Andrew Sarris). “As brutal as Lang's M was frightening . . . startling film noir” (James Monaco). B&W, 35mm. 90 mins.