The Big Heat
Directed by	Fritz Lang
Produced by	Robert Arthur
Written by	Sydney Boehm William P. McGivern (Saturday Evening Post) serial
Starring	Glenn Ford Gloria Grahame Jocelyn Brando
Music by	various uncredited
Cinematography	Charles Lang
Editing by	Charles Nelson
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Released	October 14, 1953 (U.S. release)
Running time	89 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Big Heat is a 1953 Fritz Lang-directed motion film drama shot in black and white. Image File history File links Thebigheatmp. ... Fritz Lang Friedrich Anton Christian Lang (December 5, 1890 - August 2, 1976) was an Austrian film director, screenwriter and occasional film producer, one of the best known emigrés from Germanys school of expressionism. ... This is an article about Robert Arthur film producer and screenwriter. ... Sydney Boehm (April 4, 1908 - June 25, 1990) was a film screenwriter and producer. ... Writer William Peter McGivern (December 6, 1918 - November 18, 1982) was born in Chicago, Illinois but grew up in Mobile, Alabama. ... There have been many publications called the Saturday Evening Post; several were/are local British newspapers. ... Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford (born May 1, 1916)(died October 15, 2005), better known by his stage name Glenn Ford, is an actor. ... Gloria Grahame (November 28, 1923 – October 5, 1981) was an American film actress. ... Jocelyn Brando (born November 18, 1919 in San Francisco, California; died November 27, 2005 in Santa Monica, California) was an American character actress with rare film appearances. ... Charles Lang (March 22, 1902 - April 3, 1988) was a noted film cinematographer. ... The Columbia Pictures logo, since 1996. ... October 14 is the 287th day of the year (288th in Leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... See also: 1952 in film 1953 1954 in film 1950s in film years in film film Events September 16 - The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... See also: 1952 in film 1953 1954 in film 1950s in film years in film film Events September 16 - The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film. ... Fritz Lang Friedrich Anton Christian Lang (December 5, 1890 - August 2, 1976) was an Austrian film director, screenwriter and occasional film producer, one of the best known emigrés from Germanys school of expressionism. ...

Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) is a honest cop who learns that one of his fellow officers has committed suicide. As Bannion digs deeper into what now he suspects is a murder, he becomes more and more driven to solve the mystery. He keeps digging even when the gangster violence and terror hits home. Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford (born May 1, 1916)(died October 15, 2005), better known by his stage name Glenn Ford, is an actor. ...

Critical reaction

Critical reaction to the film was positive when it was released, and today The Big Heat is considered a classic. Film critic Roger Ebert lists the film in his 100 Greats Films. In Ebert's review he praises the films supporting actors and questions the actions of the apparently strait-laced Bannion: "Does it ever occur to him that he is at least partly responsible for their deaths? No, apparently it doesn't, and that's one reason the film is so insidiously chilling; he continues on his mission oblivious to its cost." [1] Roger Ebert (right) with Russ Meyer, 1970. ...

Lee Marvin and Gloria Grahame

Writer David M. Meyer writes the film never overcomes the basic repugnance of its hero, but notes that some parts of the film, though violent, are better than the film as a whole. "Best known is Gloria Grahame's disfigurement at the hands of über-thug Lee Marvin, who flings hot coffee into her face." ^[2] The Big Heat This is a screenshot of a copyrighted movie or television program. ... The Big Heat This is a screenshot of a copyrighted movie or television program. ...

Cast

• Glenn Ford as Det. Sgt. Dave Bannion
• Gloria Grahame as Debby Marsh
• Jocelyn Brando as Katie Bannion
• Alexander Scourby as Mike Lagana
• Lee Marvin as Vince Stone
• Jeanette Nolan as Bertha Duncan

Adam Williams plays Larry, the car bomber. Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford (born May 1, 1916)(died October 15, 2005), better known by his stage name Glenn Ford, is an actor. ... Gloria Grahame (November 28, 1923 – October 5, 1981) was an American film actress. ... Jocelyn Brando (born November 18, 1919 in San Francisco, California; died November 27, 2005 in Santa Monica, California) was an American character actress with rare film appearances. ... Alexander Scourby (November 13, 1913 – February 22, 1985) was an American actor noted for his deep and resonant voice. ... Lee Marvin, (February 19, 1924 – August 29, 1987) was an American film actor. ... Jeanette Nolan was an American actress who was born on December 30, 1911, in Los Angeles, California. ... Adam Williams (b. ...

Tagline

• Somebody's Going to Pay...because he forgot to kill me...

Quotes

• Vince Stone: Hey, that's nice perfume. Debby Marsh: Something new. It attracts mosquitoes and repels men.
• Debby Marsh: Hey, I like this. Early nothing!
• Debby Marsh: The main thing is to have the money. I've been rich and I've been poor. Believe me, rich is better.
• Debby Marsh: We're sisters under the mink.
• Lt. Ted Wilks: When barflys get killed, it's for any one of a dozen crummy reasons, you know that.
• Examiner: Trouble automatically catches up with girls like her. Looks like a sex crime to me...I'd say pretty definitely it was psychopathic. You saw those cigarette burns on her body. Det. Dave Bannion: Yeah, I saw them. Every single one of them.
• Debby Marsh: I'm gonna die...I don't want to die. I must look awful. Vince should have never ruined my looks. It was a rotten thing to do. Dave... I'm gonna die...Remember how angry you got when I asked you about your wife? Det. Dave Bannion: I wasn't angry. You and Katie would have gotten along fine.

Trivia

• When Vince Stone first sees Det. Sgt. Dave Bannion, the song in the background is "Put the Blame on Mame," a witty reference to Glenn Ford's (Bannion) performance in Gilda (1946).
• In many ways, The Big Heat was a precursor, both in theme and tone, of the 1970's films Dirty Harry, The French Connection and Serpico. It was very ahead of its time.
• The film's screenplay was written by former crime reporter Sidney Boehm and based on a Saturday Evening Post serial by William P. McGivern. In 1952 the serial was published as a hard-hitting and brutal novel.
• This film noir turns the role of the femme fatale on its head. According to film critic Grant Tracey, "Whereas many noirs contain the tradition of the femme fatale, the deadly spiderwoman who destroys her man and his family and career, The Big Heat inverts this narrative paradigm, making [Det. Bannion] the indirect agent of fatal destruction. All four women [sic] he meets--from clip joint singer, Lucy Chapman to gun moll Debby--are destroyed."
• The actrees Joselyn Brando who plays the part of Det. Dave Bannion's wife is the sister of famed actor Marlon Brando.

Gilda (1946) is a black-and-white film noir directed by Charles Vidor. ...

Other uses

• Stan Ridgway used The Big Heat as the title for one of his albums.

Multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Stanard Q. Stan Ridgway (born April 5, 1954 in Barstow, California) was the original lead singer for the band Wall of Voodoo, singing on their debut EP and first two albums, including the hit song Mexican Radio. Ridgway left the band in 1983, shortly after the...

External links

• The Big Heat at The Internet Movie Database
• 10 Shades of Noir
• Film Court
• Greatest Film Site

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The Big Heat

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References