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Movies / On DVD / The Big Heat
The Big Heat

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The Big Heat (1953)

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Reviews Counted:27

Fresh:27

Rotten:0

Average Rating:8.3/10

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: THE BIG HEAT, Fritz Lang's most celebrated American film, is a chilling and violent tale of corruption, vengeance, and loss. Dave Bannion, played by distinguished Film Noir actor Glenn Ford, is an... THE BIG HEAT, Fritz Lang's most celebrated American film, is a chilling and violent tale of corruption, vengeance, and loss. Dave Bannion, played by distinguished Film Noir actor Glenn Ford, is an upright but unscrupulous cop on the trail of a vicious gang he suspects holds power over the police force. Bannion is tipped off after a colleague's suicide and his fellow officers' suspicious silence lead him to believe that they are on the gangsters' payroll. When a bomb meant for him kills his wife instead, Bannion becomes a furious force of vengeance and justice, aided along the way by the gangster's spurned girlfriend Debbie (Gloria Grahame). As Bannion and Debbie fall further and further into the Gangland's insidious and brutal trap, they must use any means necessary (including murder) to get to the truth. The violence comes suddenly and unrelentingly, as Lang explodes the stripped down story with economic yet forceful cinematography and editing, and gritty yet emotionally gripping performances from Ford and Grahame. [More]

Starring: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Lee Marvin

Starring: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Lee Marvin, Alexander Scourby, Jeanette Nolan, Peter Whitney, Willis Bouchey, Robert Burton

Director: Fritz Lang

Director: Fritz Lang
Screenwriter: Sydney Boehm
Producer: Robert Arthur
Composer: Daniele Amfitheatrof

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Dec 18, 2001

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for The Big Heat

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments)
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One of Fritz Lang's very best films.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
10/01/03
Austin Chronicle

Lang presents one of the great works of film noir. The acting is first rate, Boehm's script tough and efficient, and the whole affair is photographed with the appropriate expressionist, chiaroscuro lighting.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
04/09/08
Channel 4 Film

A scalding face-full of harsh reality, courtesy Fritz Lang.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
04/09/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Mr. Lang can direct a film. He has put his mind to it, in this instance, and he has brought forth a hot one with a sting.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/20/03
Bosley Crowther
Bosley Crowther
New York Times

Perfectly suited to film noir fans who like their stories dark, their characters dark, and their heroes decent but morally tested.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/05/02
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

No review available.

comment Comment
08/31/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

Everything about "The Big Heat" is "hard boiled."

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
07/25/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

They don't get much better in noir films than this stark and gritty classic.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Brutal, atmospheric, and exciting -- highly recommended.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
04/09/08
Don Druker
Don Druker
Chicago Reader

One of Lang's most accomplished and influential noir crimers, with a top-notch turn from Glenn Ford as the avenging cop-angel, a role that Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry) and Charles Bronson (Death Wish) would develop in their 1970s revenge thrillers.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
04/08/07
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

May be Lang's greatest American film.

comment Comment
03/24/03
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
San Francisco Examiner

Lang at his cruelest.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
07/22/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

In many ways, Fritz Lang's The Big Heat, scripted by former crime reporter Sydney Boehm, laid the groundwork not only for "Dirty Harry," but for the whole sub-genre of 'rogue cop' films that began to surface during the Vietnam era.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
07/20/02
John Petrakis
John Petrakis
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Strong noir thriller from the great Lang in his later years.

comment Comment
11/24/03
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Overwhelming crime thriller, with plenty to say and brilliant storytelling

Full Review Source: Classic Film and Television | comment Comment
08/13/05
Michael E. Grost
Michael E. Grost
Classic Film and Television

Relentlessly depressing and cynical, and although it was well-made, its cruelty made it an uncomfortable experience.

Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies | comment Comment
02/28/02
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Goatdog's Movies

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ToxicUniverse.com | comment Comment
06/19/01
Mike Bracken
Mike Bracken
ToxicUniverse.com

The movie's heart is cold and blackened, not only by the tragedies which befall its characters but by an all-consuming fatalism and futility.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
11/05/01
Phil Freeman
Phil Freeman
culturevulture.net

No review available.

comment Comment
11/22/02
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
 
 
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Latest News for The Big Heat

August 31, 2006: Actor Glenn Ford Dead at 90
People of my generation (and younger) most likely remember the widely-admired Glenn Ford as "the actor who played Pa Kent" in Richard Donner's classic... More...

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