Saturday, May 12, 2012

FILM NOIR FESTIVAL DAY 3

THE BIG HEAT (1953)

dave bannion is an upright but unscrupulous cop on the trail

of a vicious gang he suspects holds power over the police

dave wasn't always like this

dave was a happy family man who would share smokes

with his wife and tell his little girl sweet bedtime stories

that's until his wife is killed when his car explodes

the bomb meant for him kills his wife instead

now, dave's pissed

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

glenn ford plays dave bannion, a furious force of vengeance

he gets help along the way by the gangster's spurned

girlfriend played by gloria grahame, she's debbie

she's hot and knows it and tired of getting slapped around

by her boyfriend played by a very young lee marvin

as bannion and debbie fall further and further into the

gang's insidious and brutal trap

they must use any means necessary (including murder)

to get to the truth, dave's a cop so he ends up not

debbie's got big problems so she does

with it's many plot twists and really unscrupulous characters

this movie has stood the test of time and catapulted

glenn ford to super stardom in the mid fifties

... see this movie!