The Big Heat cover art

The Big Heat Details

1953 Certificate 15
  • Rated:
  • 70
  • from 1389 members

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Starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby
Director Fritz Lang
Genres Drama

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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.

Starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby, Lee Marvin, Jeanette Nolan, Peter Whitney, Willis Bouchey, Robert Burton
Director Fritz Lang
Studio SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time DVD: 1 hr 26 mins
Certificate Certificate 15
Genres Drama
Language DVD: English
Dubbed French, German, Italian, Spanish
Subtitles DVD: Arabic, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
Released DVD: 20 Feb 2006
Production year: 1953
Format DVD
  • Critics' reviews (5) of The Big Heat

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  • 4 stars out of 5

    Glenn Ford crusades against Mob-led civic corruption and hunts for vengeance in this classic film noir from director Fritz Lang. Its most famous scene, when moll Gloria Grahame is scalded by hot coffee hurled by crook Lee Marvin, was trimmed by the censors before the movie could be released in Britain with an X certificate. Now fully restored, it's tame by today's standards, but still packs a punch. Ford is excellent as the cop with a mission — his character was based on the investigators who uncovered the bile in US cities during the televised 1950s Estes Kefauver Senate investigations — and Lang gives the vicious exposé a sleek and glossy surface.

    • Radio Times
  • 3 stars out of 4

    Considered at the time to reach a new low in violence (boiling coffee in the face), this dour little thriller also struck a new note of realism in crime films and produced one of Glenn Ford's most typical performances.

    • Halliwell's Film Guide
  • Most helpful member's review of The Big Heat

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  • 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Vision of Evil

    Possibly Fritz Lang's best American film with the same nihilistic vision as his German classics. Glenn Ford is Bannion, apparently the only decent cop in a city riddled with corruption. By standing up to the Mob he loses his job, his wife and puts his daughter's life in danger. Alexander Scourby is suitably slimy as the city's Godfather and Lee Marvin, in an early role, excels as his chief Lieutenent. Gloria Grahame is Marvin's sexy but innocent moll. A classic film.

      • Leon Collins from London
  • Most recent members' review of The Big Heat

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  • 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Vision of Evil

    Possibly Fritz Lang's best American film with the same nihilistic vision as his German classics. Glenn Ford is Bannion, apparently the only decent cop in a city riddled with corruption. By standing up to the Mob he loses his job, his wife and puts his daughter's life in danger. Alexander Scourby is suitably slimy as the city's Godfather and Lee Marvin, in an early role, excels as his chief Lieutenent. Gloria Grahame is Marvin's sexy but innocent moll. A classic film.

      • Leon Collins from London
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Rating breakdown

1,389 Member ratings
  • 100
175
  • 90
163
  • 80
384
  • 70
277
  • 60
202
  • 50
82
  • 40
46
  • 30
23
  • 20
22
  • 10
15

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    • , 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 ...