Normally, when I think of Film Noir, I DON'T think about Glenn Ford. Yes, he did a few, but his personality always seemed a little too "nice" to play in these gritty films. I was very pleasantly surprised then, when I saw this movie. Ford is an honest cop in a very crooked town. However, when the mob attacks and nearly kills him (killing his wife instead),he "pops a fuse" and becomes a very tough cop who won't take NO for an answer. I loved watching him slap people around and threaten his way to the top of the syndicate, as, with his life in ruins, he had nothing to lose.

Along the way, the headstrong Ford encounters a lot of amazing characters--all played exceptionally well. In particular, a young Lee Marvin gives perhaps his best supporting performances as a hood who has a penchant for beating up women. In one scene, he nearly breaks a bit actress' arm (and it happens to be Carolyn Jones in a performance before she was famous). In another scene, he throws scalding hot coffee in the face of his girlfriend, Gloria Grahame. It was so brutal and realistic, I flinched and found my stomach churning at its ferocity and cruelness. As for Miss Grahame, she plays the sort of excellent role she became known for--a "dame" who, down under layers and layers of scum, beats a real human heart.

Wonderful performances, terrific pacing and excellent writing make this one film well worth seeing and as a result, it's one of the best examples of Film Noir out there and a great example of a film about a cop who's seen enough and is on a rampage. This is probably Glenn Ford's best performance.

FYI--In what appears to be a cool inside joke, in one of the scenes where Ford is in the bar, the song "Mame" is playing in the background--the same song made so memorable by Rita Hayworth in GILDA--a Glenn Ford film from 1946.

Also FYI--I recently saw this film for the second time. I rarely watch films twice, but this one impressed me so much the first time, I couldn't resist. The film was, believe it or not, better the second time around and I noticed so many wonderful Film Noir touches that I truly love this movie.

Having such a great and influential director such as Fritz Lang directing was reason enough to see any film regardless of genre and who was in it. It was interesting seeing Glenn Ford in a more intense role to usual, as well as Gloria Grahame in a role that always suited her and a young Lee Marvin already showing how good he was in villainous roles. As a fan of film-noir and this type of story too, 'The Big Heat' had a lot of attractions.

Found 'The Big Heat' to be a great film. Not one of Lang's most influential films, but one of his best US films, one of his best later efforts and in the top half of his overall filmography too. Although Marvin did even better things in his very distinguished career, 'The Big Heat' in my mind does contain some of the best work of both Ford and Grahame. Had no doubt about the latter being good in her role, but the former surprised me (not down to acting ability but did find myself doubting as to whether he could pull off a fairly atypical role off).

It is hard to know where to begin and what to praise first, with so much to say that's praise-worthy. 'The Big Heat's' photography is suitably gritty, while also very stylish and easy on the eyes. It is immaculately directed by Lang, providing some of the best direction of his later films. It keeps the drama taut, the tension blistering and doesn't make the violence too over the top. The music is suitably eerie without being intrusive or sounding like it belonged somewhere else.

'The Big Heat' is tautly and intelligently scripted and the story is gripping, right from the startling opening sequence and its grip never lets go. The violence may seem tame today, but in my opinion only because a lot of violence in film today tends to be very brutal and can be excessive. Actually think that it is still quite uncompromising here without making one sick to the stomach, coffee throwing on film is not always this shocking.

Characters are strongly rounded and the acting is great. Ford is excellent in the lead and is a long way from being too nice, actually playing a tough guy with plenty of intensity. Grahame is a feisty knockout, bringing grit and heart to her role. Marvin plays an absolute beast of a villain chillingly. All the supporting turns work very well.

My only complaint really is the ending, which was a little bit rushed for my liking.

Otherwise, a great film. 9/10

In The Big Heat, Fritz Lang by casting Glenn Ford against type, probably directed Ford to his greatest screen performance and one of the best noir films ever done.

Ford is a homicide cop in an unnamed big mid-western city which is in the grip of systemic corruption from organized crime. Remember The Big Heat came out only two years after the Estes Kefauver hearings and stories like these were topical. Another veteran police sergeant has committed suicide and Ford's called in. The widow, Jeanette Nolan, appears to be cooperating, but when the late cop's mistress contacts Ford and is later found murdered, this sets off a chain of events that brings tragedy to Ford personally, but also lead to the cleaning up of the town.

Normally the kind of part that Ford is cast in would go to someone like Kirk Douglas who would explode with all kinds of rage on the screen. What Lang did was cast Glenn Ford, known as one of the cinema's nicest men and squarest shooters. When the gangsters accidentally kill his wife, Jocelyn Brando, with a car bomb meant for him, Ford goes off on a rage and you know there is no force that will stop him without killing him. His performance is effective precisely because of Ford's nice guy image, the viewer identifies with him as Mr. Average Man. Think of Ford as Atticus Finch as cop instead of a lawyer and something happening to kill one of his kids. Gregory Peck as Atticus would react the same way.

The movie rises with what is arguably Ford's greatest screen role. But Glenn gets nice support from Gloria Grahame as the good time gun moll who also comes in for tragedy because she's a flirt and Lee Marvin the number one button man for syndicate head Alexander Scourby. Marvin had done several roles before The Big Heat, but it was in this film that he got his first real critical notice.

Carolyn Jones has a small part as a woman who Lee Marvin beats up and my favorite small role in the film is from Edith Evanson as a shy crippled woman who gives Ford his first real lead in tracking down his wife's killers. By the way Jeanette Nolan is one truly evil woman as the late sergeant's widow, one of her best screen roles.

The Big Heat is one of Fritz Lang's best at what he does best, delve into the dark side of his hero/protagonists.