Review: The Big Heat


Glenn Ford plays an incorruptible homicide cop and family man (wife Jocelyn Brando, and a cute kid), called to the scene of an apparent suicide of a fellow cop (which we see at the very beginning), who was apparently on the take to mobster Alexander Scourby. The suave Scourby seemingly has most of Ford’s fellow cops on the take, and his superiors indeed warn him off the case, but neither that, nor Scourby’s own scare tactics will keep him from taking the crims down, they just give him more reason to seek vengeance/justice. Lee Marvin plays Scourby’s vile henchman, whose violent treatment of moll Gloria Grahame (the guy’s got a fetish for burning human flesh- off screen of course) sees her considering changing allegiances and helping Ford out. Carolyn Jones has a brief bit as an important witness (who suggests that it wasn’t suicide but murder of the crooked cop), and Jeanette Nolan has a great role as the opportunistic widow of the dead cop who hides vital evidence against Scourby (she has one especially fine scene with Grahame that seems to be all smiles on the surface and then...wham!) her silence bought for a steady pay check.


Although it might now look a bit familiar and cliché, this searing, brilliantly acted 1953 Fritz Lang (“Man Hunt”, “Ministry of Fear”, “Clash by Night”) cop/noir flick was quite ahead of its time in terms of violence (albeit mostly implied), police corruption (quite controversial at the time), and sleaze (Two words: Lee Marvin. Another word: Brilliant), and is a model of its type.


Ford and Grahame give the performances of their careers (Ford is especially grim-faced and obsessed with revenge/justice, and Grahame gives one of her better baby-voiced ‘bad girl’ turns of her mediocre career), Scourby’s character is full of subtext and Production Code elusiveness (Hmm, he and that manservant seem awfully close...not that there’s anything wrong with that!), and Marvin fans will rejoice, as he steals his every scene. The screenplay is by Sydney Boehm (“Rogue Cop”, “Violent Saturday”, the latter of which had another fine henchman role for Marvin), from a novel by William P. McGivern (“Rogue Cop”, and the underrated “Odds Against Tomorrow”). A must for gritty crime-noir fans, not to mention fans of any of the actors.


Rating: B+

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