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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

IMDb Holiday Movie Guide

Overview

User Rating:
8.0/10   5,548 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
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 Comments:
One Of The Fastest-Movie Film Noirs more (74 total)

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)

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
Ric Roman ... Baldy
Dan Seymour ... Mr. Atkins
Edith Evanson ... Selma Parker
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Phil Arnold ... Retreat waiter (uncredited)
Linda Bennett ... Joyce Bannion (uncredited)
Charles Cane ... Police guard outside Lagana home (uncredited)

Phil Chambers ... Hettrick (uncredited)
John Close ... Policeman (uncredited)
Sidney Clute ... Retreat bartender (uncredited)
John Crawford ... Al (Bannion's brother-in-law) (uncredited)

John Doucette ... Mark Reiner (uncredited)
Kathryn Eames ... Marge (Bannion's sister-in-law) (uncredited)
Al Eben ... Harry Shoenstein (uncredited)
Douglas Evans ... Councilman Gillen (uncredited)
Jimmy Gray ... Man (uncredited)
Byron Kane ... Police surgeon (uncredited)
Donald Kerr ... Cabby (uncredited)
Lyle Latell ... Moving man (uncredited)
Harry Lauter ... Hank O'Connell (uncredited)
Celia Lovsky ... Lagana's Mother in Portrait (uncredited)
Herbert Lytton ... Martin (uncredited)
Mike Mahoney ... Dixon (uncredited)
Laura Mason ... B-girl (uncredited)
Paul Maxey ... George Fuller (uncredited)
Joseph Mell ... Medical Examiner (uncredited)
John Merton ... Man (uncredited)
Patrick Miller ... Intern (uncredited)
William Murphy ... Reds (uncredited)
Ezelle Poule ... Mrs Tucker (uncredited)
Norma Randall ... Jill (uncredited)
Michael Ross ... Segal (uncredited)
Ted Stanhope ... Lagana's butler (uncredited)
Robert Stevenson ... Bill Rutherford (uncredited)
William Vedder ... Janitor (uncredited)
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Directed by
Fritz Lang 
 
Writing credits
(in alphabetical order)
Sydney Boehm  screenplay
William P. McGivern  Saturday Evening Post serial

Produced by
Robert Arthur .... producer
 
Original Music by
Henry Vars (uncredited)
 
Cinematography by
Charles Lang 
 
Film Editing by
Charles Nelson 
 
Art Direction by
Robert Peterson 
 
Set Decoration by
William Kiernan 
 
Costume Design by
Jean Louis (gowns)
 
Makeup Department
Clay Campbell .... makeup artist
Helen Hunt .... hair stylist
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Milton Feldman .... assistant director
 
Sound Department
George Cooper .... sound engineer
 
Music Department
Mischa Bakaleinikoff .... musical director
Daniele Amfitheatrof .... composer: stock music (uncredited)
George Duning .... composer: stock music (uncredited)
Fred Karger .... composer: stock music (uncredited)
Arthur Morton .... composer: title music (uncredited)
Hans J. Salter .... composer: stock music (uncredited)
Ernst Toch .... composer: stock music (uncredited)
 
Crew verified as complete


Production CompaniesDistributors
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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:
Bannion's wife Katie is played by Jocelyn Brando, older sister of Marlon. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Sgt Bannion first meets Lucy Champam in 'The Retreat' bar the waiter pours Bannion a glass of beer with a head at least 2 inches thick. Bannion is then seen to sip from the glass and the beer has virtually no head at all. more
Quotes:
Debby Marsh: The main thing is to have the money. I've been rich and I've been poor. *Believe* me, rich is better. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in The Rules of Film Noir (2009) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
Put the Blame on Mame more

FAQ

New York Opening Happened When?
Chicago Opening Happened When and Where?
more
33 out of 42 people found the following comment useful.
One Of The Fastest-Movie Film Noirs, 26 April 2006
9/10
Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

Intense characters, led by Glenn Ford's portrayal of "Det. Sgt. Dave Bannion," make this one of the better film noirs of the period, at least one of the ones I enjoyed the most.

Ford is a believably 100 percent honest and tough cop who is unrelenting in getting his wife's killer. (His wife is killed early on in a car bomb.) Ford takes the law into his own hands, which really contradicts what he stands for, and is not least bit apologetic for his actions, either. Make no mistake: this is a pure "revenge" film.

Gloria Grahame, Lee Marvin, Jocelyn Brando, Alexader Scourby, Jeanette Noland and Carolyn Jones complete the cast of "name" actors of the period. No surprise that Marvin plays the lead villain. Grahame almost steals the show as Marvin's girl who gets scalded when the latter throws hot coffee in her face - one of the more shocking scenes in film noir history. She then, understandably, switches allegiances.

It was kind of fun to see Marvin at such a young age. This was my first look at Scourby. Pro football fans know his distinctive voice well, as he became the voice of the NFL Films for many years.

One of the attractions of this story is the pace: it is fast-moving, and it's not too dated either, despite being over 40 years old. This is highly recommended for crime buffs of any era.

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Message Boards

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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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