The Big Heat (1953)

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

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Sydney Boehm (screenplay), William P. McGivern (Saturday Evening Post serial)

Stars:

Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Glenn Ford	...	Dave Bannion
Gloria Grahame	...	Debby Marsh
Jocelyn Brando	...	Katie Bannion
Alexander Scourby	...	Mike Lagana
Lee Marvin	...	Vince Stone
Jeanette Nolan	...	Bertha Duncan
Peter Whitney	...	Tierney
Willis Bouchey	...	Lt. Ted Wilks
Robert Burton	...	Gus Burke
Adam Williams	...	Larry Gordon
Howard Wendell	...	Commissioner Higgins
Chris Alcaide	...	George Rose
Michael Granger	...	Hugo
Dorothy Green	...	Lucy Chapman
Carolyn Jones	...	Doris

Storyline

Dave Bannion is an upright 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 Debby. As Bannion and Debby 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.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | suicide note | scalded face | disfigurement | corruption | 

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Taglines:

A hard cop and a soft dame!

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Genres:

Crime | Film-Noir | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 December 1953 (Japan)

Also Known As:

The Big Heat

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Sunset Gower Studios - 1438 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,324

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Listen carefully for the theme song from "Gilda", a film which was pivotal to Glenn Ford's career seven years before "The Big Heat" was made. It is played as Ford is departing from a bar near the end of this movie. Director Fritz Lang slyly inserts "Put the Blame on Mame", which was famously sung by a stunning Rita Hayworth in the earlier movie.

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Goofs

As Bannion is moving out of his house, he goes to a back room to get something. As he goes around a corner, we see his shadow stop, then it just disappears. Bannion then comes back into the shot carrying his bag. An obvious cut, but done without the camera being moved.

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Quotes

Lt. Ted Wilks: It was bad judgment to bother a cop's widow about the love life of her husband.
Dave Bannion: Good or bad, it was my judgment.
Lt. Ted Wilks: You're missing the point. I'm the one that gets the pressure calls from upstairs. I'm the one that has to explain. You don't keep an office like this very long stepping on a lot of corns.
Dave Bannion: You want me to go upstairs and explain?
Lt. Ted Wilks: Not you. You're a corn stepper by instinct.

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Connections

Featured in The Lady with the Torch (1999)

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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 Reviews

I'll take mine black, no sugar

Fantastic film noir features 2 potent scenes involving tossed coffee, and Gloria Grahame as a mob moll who is definitely a woman not be messed with. Tough cop Ford is not afraid of anyone as he goes on movie long crusade to bring down every villian in the story. Entertaining pulp is fast and cynical and will leave lasting impression long after it's over. Great characters dot the brutal landscape from beginning to end.