By Jeppe Kleyngeld
The Big Heat (1953)
‘A hard cop and a soft dame!’
Directed by:
Fritz Lang
Written by:
William P. McGivern (Saturday Evening Post serial)
Sydney Boehm (screenplay)
Cast:
Glenn Ford ...Detective Dave Bannion
Gloria Grahame ...Debby Marsh
Alexander Scourby ...Mike Lagana
Lee Marvin ...Vince Stone
Jocelyn Brando ...Katie Bannion
Dorothy Green ...Lucy Chapman
Peter Whitney ...Tierney
Willis Bouchey ... Lt. Ted Wilks
Robert Burton ...Det. Gus Burke
Adam Williams ...Larry Gordon
The honest homicide detective Dave Bannion investigates the suicide of a allegedly corrupt cop. His trail soon lead him to the powerful crime kingpin Mike Lagana and his henchman, the initially likable thug Vince Stone (Lee Marvin). Most of Bannion’s colleagues seem to be on the take and in the war that ensues, Bannion stands all alone.
Fritz Lang creates a noirish hard boiled detective story that is stylish, gripping and entertaining. The misè-en-scene is especially well-done with the beautiful positioning of clocks, paintings, mirrors, cigarette smoke, shadows, extra’s, etc. The dialogues are sharp and snappy as they ought to be in a film like this.
There is character development as well. Bannion is somewhat a goody goody two shoes when we start out, but when a tragic event occurs 30 minutes in the film he turns into more of a badass. At one point he almost kills a dame who is withholding information that could hurt Lagana’s organisation. With her death this information would come out.
This is an early example of ‘the underdog Vs. everybody’ film. In the world that Lang projects people are either scared or greedy. Everybody wants a piece of the pie that the Laguna empire generates. Except Bannion who’s more than content when his wife cooks him a steak. Shreds of violence (mostly a contribution of the young and fresh Lee Marvin) remind us that nothing comes cheap in the world these characters inhabit.
A problem with this generally successful crime film is that it didn’t age very well. Most of the shocks don’t quite do it anymore. On the other hand the screenplay by Sydney Boehm is well written and Lang keeps the pace high. The performances are pleasant to watch and the music is very characteristic of the era. What more could you ask for?
Rating: 
Quote:
MIKE LAGANA: Prisons are bulging with dummies who wonder how they got there.
Trivia:
Jocelyn Brando who plays Bannion’s wife Katie is the older sister of Marlon Brando.
