IMDb > The Big Heat (1953)
The Big Heat
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The Big Heat (1953) More at IMDbPro »

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The Big Heat (1953) -- Trailer for this crime drama directed by Fritz Lang

Overview

User Rating:
8.0/10   5,674 votes
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Director:
Writers:
Sydney Boehm (screenplay)
William P. McGivern (Saturday Evening Post serial)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Big Heat on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
14 October 1953 (USA) more
Tagline:
A hard cop and a soft dame! more
Plot:
Tough cop Dave Bannion takes on a politically powerful crime syndicate. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
1 win more
NewsDesk:
(14 articles)
Payback is making a comeback
 (From The Guardian - Film News. 20 November 2009, 4:15 PM, PST)

New On DVD This Week
 (From The Flickcast. 3 November 2009, 3:35 PM, PST)

User Reviews:
big steaks, big spuds, big heat more (76 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Glenn Ford ... Det. Sgt. Dave Bannion

Gloria Grahame ... Debby Marsh
Jocelyn Brando ... Katie Bannion
Alexander Scourby ... Mike Lagana

Lee Marvin ... Vince Stone
Jeanette Nolan ... Bertha Duncan
Peter Whitney ... Tierney
Willis Bouchey ... Lt. Ted Wilks
Robert Burton ... Det. Gus Burke
Adam Williams ... Larry Gordon
Howard Wendell ... Police Commissioner Higgins
Chris Alcaide ... George Rose
Michael Granger ... Hugo (police clerk)
Dorothy Green ... Lucy Chapman

Carolyn Jones ... Doris
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Additional Details

Runtime:
89 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:
Norway:16 | UK:15 (re-rating) (1988) | UK:X (original rating) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Québec) | Germany:16 (nf) (re-rating) | West Germany:18 (nf) (original rating) | South Korea:15 | Finland:(Banned) | Finland:K-16 (re-rating) (1966) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (certificate #16549) | Australia:PG | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
When Lee Marvin first sees Glenn Ford face to face, the music in the background is "Put the Blame on Mame," a reference to Ford's performance in Gilda (1946). more
Goofs:
Continuity: The street address for the junk yard on Bannyon's list is "101", yet the number "1024" is seen on a large sign over the yard's shed. more
Quotes:
Mike Lagana: Prisons are bulging with dummies who wonder how they got there. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Terror Firmer (1999) more
Soundtrack:
Put the Blame on Mame more

FAQ

New York Opening Happened When?
Chicago Opening Happened When and Where?
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22 out of 26 people found the following review useful.
big steaks, big spuds, big heat, 28 May 2002
Author: bengleson from British Columbia

This punchy little noir moves along at brisk clip. Glenn Ford simmers the whole time like a boiling kettle about to blow . This man has no pleasures that are obvious except his Westinghouse wife and child. Lee Marvin barely maintains control for much of the film. He is a catelogue of evil and greedy excess. Gloria Grahame is marvelous, witty, beautiful, bitter beyond hope. There is no redemption to be had for most of the characters in this sordid little universe. Conspiracy theorists of the 21st century will look back at the kind of simple-minded corrupt worldview espoused by Lang in this and other films and lament its loss. In THE BIG HEAT, evil and rot have names and faces and with enough fortitude, and the willingness to lose everything, they can be conquered. At least for a day. We know today that the whole infrastructure of power is poisoned beyond repair. The fifties held out a modicum of hope. Brief, fleeting hope. This is a violent film. Others have commented that much of the horror is committed off screen. But you can easily imagine it. Lang doesn't pull many punches here. The treadmill of denouement speeds up rapidly in the last few sections of the film. After viewing a film like THE BIG HEAT, I often want to wander down some dark street and find a corner diner, something like the one portrayed in Hoppers's NIGHTHAWKS, and have a cup of java, listen to some Brubeck on the jukebox, and wait for someone to come in from the chilly street . But the diners in my neighborhood are either in the middle of the block or close early because of street crime. So I stay home, have a cup of tea, and dream noirish thoughts half asleep on my couch. This is a fine entry into the film noir lexicon.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Big Heat (1953)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Gloria Grahame nicknazareth
excellent 'in' joke for movie buffs colin2000
Some of the best dialogue in a film noir...ever! jcremona
The Dark Knight aarongleason
SPOILER: How many guns has Dave? Phyg_LeGuy
Alexander Scourby's Character mrmime
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