The Big Combo (1955)

“He has reason to hate me. His salary is $96.50 a week. The busboys in my hotel make better money than that.” Mr. Brown

A little known film noir that deserves a bigger audience, The Big Combo just became available on DVD at a bargain price. The incredible dark cinematography of the urban jungle takes this late film noir to the top ranks of style, courtesy of photographic wizard John Alton (Anthony Mann’s noir cinematographer) and director Joseph L. Lewis (Gun Crazy).

But there’s more: The Big Combo benefits from a taut script, by Philip Yordan, with punchy dialog and a great cast who translate the written word into compelling action.

The story is about a police detective (Cornel Wilde - The Naked Prey) who is obsessed with bringing down the kingpin of the local organization, the “Big Combo” of the title.

The mob boss (Richard Conte - A Walk in the Sun) is known only as Mr. Brown (could be where Tarantino got the character name from) who is like Teflon - every angle Wilde explores leads to a dead end. Wilde’s captain has even taken him on the carpet for wasting taxpayer money to the tune of $18,000 dogging the hoodlum. To add fuel to the fire, the thug is outspoken and insults all and sundry to their faces, including his gay henchmen, played by Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman. He does not spare his hard-of-hearing second-in-command (Brian Donlevy - Beau Geste), incessantly badgering him about his second class status. There is an additional subplot; Wilde is in love with the gangster’s mistress (Jean Wallace). Wallace acts as an unknowing femme fatale, bringing ruin in her wake.

Without spoiling the story, you will see brutality and sexual innuendo taken to a new level for a 1955 movie. Where The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep hinted at dark subjects, The Big Combo brings them right to the fore. By artful editing, Lewis made it past the censors, but it is as hard hitting as anything in the film noir genre.

The characters are well limned by the actors, whose names may not be household words, but were competent practitioners nonetheless. Cornel Wilde appears a bit straitlaced until you realize his girlfriend (Helene Stanton) is a burlesque dancer and hooker in the bargain. Richard Conte is probably one of the most enjoyable bad guys I’ve seen. A veteran of many, many movies, he specialized in outspoken confident characters. Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman played lots of co-starring roles, with Van Cleef breaking through to stardom in Clint Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns. The supporting players are also noteworthy with the redoubtable Ted DeCorsia well known from hundreds of TV and movie appearances; John Hoyt, and Whit Bissell also are familiar faces you’ll probably recognize.

Director Joseph H. Lewis took fairly low budgets and made virtuous use of the limited resources. The quality of this film and Gun Crazy come about as close to perfectly realized as I can imagine with their innovative storytelling and distinctive visual style. In The Big Combo Lewis also used the audio to make the viewer realize a few things. Of course, I would be remiss if I forgot to mention the atmospheric jazz score by David Raksin.

The cinematography is starkly lit black and white with deep shadows. If you saw the recent Sin City, you’ll see that the director got his vision from Cinematographer John Alton’s treatment of the dangerous urban landscape in this film and others like He Walked By Night, T-Men, and Raw Deal, which set the standard for stylish chiaroscuro use of lighting for many years.

The DVD is from Alpha Video, a publisher of public domain content. The film runs 88 minutes and is in quite good condition with deep blacks and stark whites. Sound is mono with some hiss.

Fans of film noir, crime drama, or gangster movies, as well as those who like well done cinema in general will want to see The Big Combo.

I found the best price, about six bucks, including delivery, at Deepdiscountdvd.com

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Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening