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IMDbPro

Heißes Eisen

Original title: The Big Heat
  • 1953
  • Approved
  • 1h 29m
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
29K
YOUR RATING
Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame in Heißes Eisen (1953)
Trailer for this crime drama directed by Fritz Lang
Play trailer1:43
1 Video
99+ Photos
CrimeFilm-NoirThriller

Tough cop Dave Bannion takes on a politically powerful crime syndicate.Tough cop Dave Bannion takes on a politically powerful crime syndicate.Tough cop Dave Bannion takes on a politically powerful crime syndicate.

  • Director
    • Fritz Lang
  • Writers
    • Sydney Boehm
    • William P. McGivern
  • Stars
    • Glenn Ford
    • Gloria Grahame
    • Jocelyn Brando
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.9/10
    29K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Fritz Lang
    • Writers
      • Sydney Boehm
      • William P. McGivern
    • Stars
      • Glenn Ford
      • Gloria Grahame
      • Jocelyn Brando
    • 188User reviews
    • 95Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 1 nomination

    Videos1

    The Big Heat
    Trailer 1:43
    Watch The Big Heat

    Photos120

    Glenn Ford, Lee Marvin, and Gloria Grahame in Heißes Eisen (1953)
    Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, and Jeanette Nolan in Heißes Eisen (1953)
    Glenn Ford, Lee Marvin, Gloria Grahame, and Howard Wendell in Heißes Eisen (1953)
    Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame in Heißes Eisen (1953)
    Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame in Heißes Eisen (1953)
    Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame in Heißes Eisen (1953)
    Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame in Heißes Eisen (1953)
    Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, and Adam Williams in Heißes Eisen (1953)
    Gloria Grahame in Heißes Eisen (1953)
    Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame in Heißes Eisen (1953)
    Gloria Grahame in Heißes Eisen (1953)
    Jeanette Nolan in Heißes Eisen (1953)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Glenn Ford
    Glenn Ford
    • Sgt. Dave Bannion
    Gloria Grahame
    Gloria Grahame
    • Debby Marsh
    Jocelyn Brando
    Jocelyn Brando
    • Katie Bannion
    Alexander Scourby
    Alexander Scourby
    • Mike Lagana
    Lee Marvin
    Lee Marvin
    • Vince Stone
    Jeanette Nolan
    Jeanette Nolan
    • Bertha Duncan
    Peter Whitney
    Peter Whitney
    • Tierney
    Willis Bouchey
    Willis Bouchey
    • Lt. Ted Wilks
    Robert Burton
    Robert Burton
    • Gus Burke
    Adam Williams
    Adam Williams
    • Larry Gordon
    Howard Wendell
    • Commissioner Higgins
    Chris Alcaide
    Chris Alcaide
    • George Rose
    Michael Granger
    Michael Granger
    • Hugo
    Dorothy Green
    Dorothy Green
    • Lucy Chapman
    Carolyn Jones
    Carolyn Jones
    • Doris
    Ric Roman
    Ric Roman
    • Baldy
    Dan Seymour
    Dan Seymour
    • Mr. Atkins
    Edith Evanson
    Edith Evanson
    • Selma Parker
    • Director
      • Fritz Lang
    • Writers
      • Sydney Boehm
      • William P. McGivern
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Columbia wanted to borrow Marilyn Monroe from 20th Century-Fox to play the role of Debby Marsh, but Fox's asking price was too high. Gloria Grahame was cast instead.
    • Goofs
      The street address for the junkyard on Bannion's list is "101", yet the number "1024" is seen on a large sign over the yard's shed.
    • Quotes

      Debby Marsh: [to Bannion] Oh, well, you're about as romantic as a pair of handcuffs.

    • Connections
      Featured in Hexenkessel (1973)
    • Soundtracks
      It's a Blue World
      (uncredited)

      Written by Chet Forrest and Bob Wright

      Heard instrumentally during one of the scenes at The Retreat

    User reviews188

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    a hard boiled egg of a classic, with a side of coffee...
    Fritz Lang can conjure up a paranoid thriller with the greatest of ease (actually, it's probably a lot of work, but it looks easy, which is a feat unto itself), and The Big Heat provides some of his classic paranoia to the proceedings of a story of a good, hard cop on the trail of a case that's gone way too corrupt. There are simple visual touches, amid what looks like a standard-shot thriller (when compared to, say, M, which is Godly in its vision of the darkness of humanity's layers peeled back). But it's got the kind of grit to it that most likely inspired Dirty Harry, even if, arguably, Glenn Ford isn't quite as great a star as Clint Eastwood. He's got a style to himself, anyway, like someone who is almost TOO good, and knows it, which is why he'll get the job done even if it means some busted knuckles and a few cracked heads. He's a compelling force as Dave Bannion, and he's perfectly cast against a bunch of sinister, slimy characters (save for the women, and even one of them is just rotten).

    After a cop seems to have killed himself, the case looks open and shut. But there seems to be more for Bannion, as he didn't seem like a guy, from some accounts, to do himself in. Turns out there's a big cheese named Lagana who wants this put hush-hush like, and pays off the widow to keep a letter he wrote under wraps. But Bannion is suddenly put to the test, if only of himself, when his family is put in danger (with, of course, tragic results). Lang doesn't stop for a detail that isn't worthy of the attention of the narrative, and there's a connection that he makes between the world of the criminal underworld and the law: it's a place where there's some gray, but the black and white aspect rings through due to the situation at hand: corrupt cops, dirty criminals, and only a couple of dames to trust in the mix of it (one of them Debby, played in another great turn by Gloria Grahame, takes a savage incident with a pot of coffee via Lee Marvin's hand to wise up).

    It might not have the depth of an M or Scarlett Street, but the Big Heat is about as solid a genre piece as one could ask for, getting more harrowing from the first gun shot of the picture all the way to the final moment when Bannion leaves the office for a hit-and-run case (a cop's work is never finished, one might suggest). It's also got more intelligence for its conventional roots with the little things; for example, there's a point in the movie where something pivotal could've happened with Bannion's daughter and the thugs, but Lang makes a good step to push aside it, keeping the focus squarely on the task at hand instead of sidestepping the climax into cliché. Land understands how, for the sake of a piece of pulp fiction like this, to keep the lines in order, even if it might seem standard for today: keep Bannion's family wholesome, maybe TOO wholesome, with stories of three little kittens, and keep the criminal elements savage, sinister in their grins and suits and violence brimming underneath.

    One things for sure, it doesn't get much less thrilling than seeing Ford and Marvin in an unpredictable shoot-out. A+
    helpful•16
    1
    • Quinoa1984
    • Jan 20, 2008

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    FAQ19

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    • Chicago Opening Happened When and Where?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 5, 1954 (West Germany)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Big Heat
    • Filming locations
      • Columbia/Sunset Gower Studios - 1438 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA(Studio)
    • Production company
      • Columbia Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Gross worldwide
      • $6,324
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 29 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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