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Originally Posted by FryeDwight
THE BIG HEAT (1953). Not a Horror film, but gripping excellent crime film that deserves a wider audience. Glenn Ford is a hard boiled Detective (kind of pre Dirty Harry) investigating and trying to quash a City wide Crime net. Solid support especially by a young Lee Marvin (with black hair...always thought it was white  ). His Vince Stone is a real bastard and implacable sadist abusing Carolyn Jones (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS and TV's ADAMM'S FAMILY, probably one of her first parts) and Gloria Grahame (THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and BLOOD AND LACE). Lee's abuse of Gloria must have been ultra shocking to audiences at the time and still packs a wallop today. ***** |
The supporting cast really does bring The Big Heat to life, particularly Lee Marvin and Grahame.
I saw The Big Heat a few years ago, and I was a bit mixed on it. The scene of the car bomb played a bit weird, maybe even clunky, to me -- kind of hard to explain why as it's been awhile since I've seen it -- but I don't recall getting a good sense of Bannion's grief, which is certainly supposed to boost his motivation. It's a highly regarded film. I'd really like to see it again.
I didn't know Doris was Carolyn Jones! It's so hard to see. She looks so different without the long straight black hair of Morticia Adams.
I didn't know Fritz Lang directed it either. I didn't even know he was directing films into the 50's.