The Big Heat (1953) dir=Fritz Lang.
From the opening splatter of gunpowder it doesn't take long for the tension to wind up in this film. The follow up shot of a limpnecked body collapsing onto a desk suggests suicide but a police Sargeant who is played by Glenn Ford soon finds out differently.
Ford doesn't bring much emotional intensity to his role and the exaggeratedly sunny glimpses that are shown of his domestic life are what make the events that transpire feel like a series of gutpunches.
But the real stars of the film are Gloria Grahame and Lee Marvin.
In one of his first credited film appearances Marvin plays a delectably slimey mob-boss strong arm and Grahame is a barfly with a taste for expensive fun who is completly unable to turn away from a mirror. ("I've been poor and I've been rich and RRRRRRICH is better", growleth she.)
The Big Heat doesn't contain many surprises but just as I was about to pigeonhole it as an enjoyable but predictable film about men who obsess over power and women who seek emotional revenge the MINK COATED GIRLS finally get together
and the last ten minutes contain enough whambambam to win me over.
Seeing as it's considered a definitive example of one of my favorite genres, film noir, ... it's about time I saw this one, huh!
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