Big Heat

Pros: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Story, Revenge
Cons: Sleazy, Violence, Not for Children

The Big Heat (1953) The Big Heat is a stylish look at corruption and unblinking violence in the modern city. An early exploration of the revenge motif that would become common by the time of Dirty Harry and Death Wish. From ...

Pros: fast pace, noir lighting and framing, Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame
Cons: might be too violent for some (though more by implication that gore)

Fritz Lang's (1953) "The Big Heat" is the definitive cinema noir (and oddly not hetertofore reviewed here). The usual Lang themes of vengeance and of ordinary people fighting against overwhelming odds reach perfection herein. The expressionist lighting ...

Pros: A well-acted, well-directed, gripping piece of black and white film noir bleakness
Cons: Some might find it a bit of a downer. Disturbing quantities of pomade.

The Big Heat, filmed in 1953 by the legendary German-born director Fritz Lang, is the story of an honest cop in a quixotic quest to fight a mob family that controls the politicians and the police. It’s a dark and, by “old movie” standards, ...

Pros: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Lee Marvin, engrossing plot
Cons: violence, corruption, adult themes

Everybody knows that the big city is a dangerous place, and one reason why everybody knows that is the abundance of gangster films that have wowed theater audiences since the 1940s. The gangster genre often goes hand-in-hand with noir, which is ...