The Big Heat

 (1953)

The Big Heat Blu-ray delivers stunning video and great audio in this exceptional Blu-ray release
A police detective whose wife was killed by the mob teams with a scarred gangster's moll to bring down a powerful gangster.

For more about The Big Heat and The Big Heat Blu-ray release, see The Big Heat Blu-ray Review

Starring: Glenn Ford, Lee Marvin, Gloria Grahame, Jeanette Nolan, Willis Bouchey, Adam Williams
Director: Fritz Lang

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The Big Heat Blu-ray Review

Death Wish, 1953 style.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, May 5, 2012

Fritz Lang is certainly one of the more fascinating figures in twentieth century film, one who traversed everything from the early silent era to German Expressionism to the Golden Age of the Hollywood studio system, to a burgeoning quasi- independent approach as that selfsame studio system started to falter and crumble. Just recounting some of the films for which Lang is best remembered is a thrilling exercise in incredible diversity: Metropolis, at least two of his three Dr. Mabuse films, M, Die Nibelungen, Liliom, Fury, Western Union, The Woman in the Window, Scarlet Street, Clash by Night, and a film which still retains an incredibly visceral impact almost sixty years after its initial release, The Big Heat. Lang was often called "the Master (or Prince) of Darkness," both for his figurative tonal sense and for his literal tendency to evoke the foreboding shadows of the Expressionist movement, even in fare that is not on its face in that particular genre. Lang's predilection for that darkness is probably what made him so well suited to helm noir and noir-esque outings, and indeed many of his forties and fifties output at least flirts with that idiom. The Big Heat is often lumped whole cloth into the film noir category, but it's a surprisingly versatile piece of filmmaking that also subtly upends several tropes of the noir genre while also wrapping its twisted tentacles around several other genres, part of what has made it such an enduringly iconic experience. Younger viewers who have never seen The Big Heat may well be reminded of a more recent film that traffics in the same general set up of a decent man out to avenge the senseless murder of his wife, the 1974 Charles Bronson opus Death Wish (which of course spawned several sequels). The "revenge film" was nothing new even when Lang came to it in 1953 for The Big Heat, but as with so many of Lang's efforts, it's reinvented here in a bristling new landscape of brute force, aberrant behavior and a general feeling of moral turpitude that is quite remarkable, even within the usually unseemly environment of film noir.



Glenn Ford portrays Sergeant Dave Bannion, a decent policeman who is surrounded by corrupt cops and a town that is unabashedly run by a crime syndicate. Bannion's supposedly open and shut investigation of what seems to be the suicide of another cop instead begins to lead Bannion down a path of discovering increasing police complicity with the crime syndicate. That ultimately brings Bannion into contact with a trio of unforgettable and linked characters. The crime boss is smooth but frightening Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby), whose "muscle" is a vicious thug named Vince Stone (lee Marvin). Stone's moll (hey, this is that kind of film) is a blowsy blonde named Debby Marsh (Gloria Grahame), a poster child for domestic abuse. Bannion's increasing encroachment on Lagana's territory leads to absolute incredulity on the part of Lagana, which rather quickly evolves into Bannion's wife (played by Marlon Brando's older sister Jocelyn in one of her few above the title billings) being murdered in a bomb plot that was obviously intended for Bannion himself. Bannion is surrounded by dirty cops who won't lift a hand to help him or obviously to confront the crime syndicate, and so Bannion resigns, becoming a one man vigilante out to bring down Lagana and his crew.

The Big Heat is a film where even its ostensible hero is painted in shades of gray, but Bannion's penchant for getting things done his way pales in comparison to the incredible violence essayed by Stone against Debby. This is an "evolution" (if that's the right word) of the famous scene from The Public Enemy where Jimmy Cagney smashes the grapefruit into Mae Clark's face. This is also one of the ways that The Big Heat recasts familiar tropes of the noir genre in a new light (or dark, as the case may be). Grahame's Debby is not the traditional femme fatale, even though she's clothed in the typical trappings of such characters. Debby is in fact herself a victim, rather than the victimizer, and Grahame's performance is moving and even gut wrenching. Marvin's Stone is so incredibly despicable it's rather amazing to think that the actor was ever able to move into more traditionally heroic roles later in his career.

Lang was never an overly flashly director and in fact resolutely refused to overtly draw attention to himself, and yet his films are almost always unforgettable, at least with regard to certain aspects if not in sum total. Lang along with his legendary cinematographer Charles Lang occasionally paint in the chiaroscuro technique that would come to define film noir, but what's rather interesting about The Big Heat is how "out in the open" it frequently is, as if the human cockroaches that typically inhabit films like these had learned to acclimate themselves to the light and were no longer afraid of it. Like the revising of the traditional femme fatale trope, this is another way Lang carefully shifts preconceptions and sets the viewer slightly off kilter, adding to the emotional resonance of the film.

There's barely a wasted moment in The Big Heat. The film starts with a literal bang and then cartwheels through an escalating series of tense moments that leads to an equally bombastic finale. Bolstered by a coterie of extremely well drawn performances, and Lang's exciting (and unobtrusive) direction, The Big Heat has lost none of its impact in the years since its original release. This is a brutal, disturbing portrayal of rampant evil, evil which is just barely vanquished by an emotionally compromised hero.

The Big Heat Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

The Big Heat is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Twilight Time with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.34:1. This is yet another stunning looking catalog release culled from HD masters provided to Twilight Time by Sony – Columbia. The elements utilized here are crisp and brilliantly delineated, with wonderfully rich and lustrous blacks and an appealing and very subtly variegated gray scale. While this film doesn't wallow in the shadows as much as many traditional noirs, there's still an appealing feeling of gloom overhanging the proceedings, and that is eminently well represented in this high definition presentation, one which offers excellent contrast and completely natural looking grain structure. Some of the dimly lit interior scenes present just a few problems with shadow detail, problems that were most likely inherent in the source elements to begin with. Otherwise, this is yet another incredibly solid looking release that continues Twilight Time's winning ways with Columbia catalog product.

The Big Heat Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

The Big Heat features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mix which is surprisingly fulsome considering its age and narrowness. Fidelity is very strong, and there's no egregious damage or even hiss to report. The midrange is very full and convincing, and some semblance of LFE blasts through in one spectacular explosion and a couple of instances of gunfire. Dialogue is cleanly presented and is also well prioritized in the mix. This isn't an overly showy soundtrack, but in this lossless environment there's a stripped down, bare feeling to this mix that works extremely well with the gritty ambience of the film.

The Big Heat Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras

 

• Isolated Score. Though only Musical Director Mischa Bakaleinikoff receives credit for The Big Heat, evidently most of the score was done by Polish composer Henry Vars, to whose efforts a number of stock cues were added by such heavyweights as George Duning and others. This is typically hard hitting mid-fifties fare, with huge brass swells and an overall taut, curt approach to scoring. This track is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.


• Original Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:43) is actually a re-release trailer.

The Big Heat Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation

 

The Big Heat is an incredibly breathless, bracing experience and one which rather brilliantly revises several noir traditions. Lang was nearing the end of his major studio involvement, moving more and more toward quasi- independent fare, but he elevates the material here well above what could have been a kind of smarmy offering, proving that he had lost none of the power and facility that marked his earlier iconic work. With incredibly evocative cinematography by Charles Lang supporting some devastatingly effective performances (especially by Grahame, who really deserved an Oscar nomination for this film), The Big Heat remains one of the finest fifties offerings in what was then the dying noir genre. This Blu-ray offers superior video and excellent audio, and it comes Highly recommended.

Twilight Time has revealed their Blu-ray selections for May and June; these titles include the 1959 version of Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Big Heat, As Good as It Gets, and The Wayward Bus. Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Big Heat street ...