The Big Heat (1953) - Fritz Lang 

   For all the brilliance of M and Metropolis, one may forget that Fritz Lang even went to Hollywood. When he made the Big Heat in 1953, not to many people took notice. Nearly fifty years later, not to many people have taken notice. It is one of Langs least talked about films, and doesnt frequently come up in a conversation of the best noir. So who did take notice of the film? Well apparently someone did, otherwise we wouldnt be talking about it.
   The Big Heat is what we would call a sleeper. A film that went unnoticed, but somewhere down the road we decided that this was an interesting and excellent picture. Sleepers are some of the best candidates for a cult film. Take the Sweet Smell of Success (1957) or Stanley Kubricks the Killing (1956). Both of these films didnt stir up too much buzz, but they have since been regarded as classics. Langs film probably draws closer to Kubricks due only to the element of crime. Sure there are some underhanded shenanigans going on in Mackendricks film, but not in the organized crime world, so common thematically with noir. Yet all three films are completely unique from each other, and their genre.
   The Big Heat does sport a more well known cast than most noir films. Glenn Ford stars as Dave Bannion, a hard hitting homicide detective. He is basically the standard noir hero. After a police officer commits suicide, he is appointed to the case. It doesnt take much to find out that things are different than the surface would indicate. Soon enough Bannions family gets to be the target of the people Bannion is trying to track down. The morals of Fords Bannion are a little stronger than most noir heroes. He seems constantly attached to this case. He wont give up, and he doesnt change with the wind.
   Along the way he meets Vince Stone (Lee Marvin) a gangster who is quite abusive to his girlfriend played by Gloria Grahame (Debby Marsh). Grahame steals every scene she is in. Her career was in full swing at this point. She was in the years previous best picture winner, and took home a best supporting actress Oscar for her brief role in the Bad and the Beautiful. She realizes that Stone is dangerous and tries to get away, but Stone being who he is doesnt want to give her up. In one of the most shocking scenes in noir history, we see him through a pot of boiling coffee in her face, all for talking to Bannion. Just as disturbing is when we finally see her pull off the bandage to reveal the burn. This incident reminds me of the smashed coke bottle in Robert Altmans the Long Goodbye (1973).
   Fritz Lang had a tendency to have his heroes punished for doing either the right thing or nothing at all. Spencer Tracy in Fury (1936) was accused of a crime he didnt commit and was the target of a lynch mob. Lang constantly showed bad things happening to nice people. Fords Bannion gets the short end of the stick throughout the entire picture. After a certain point in the film Bannion becomes obsessed with revenge, like Tracy in Fury and the underworld in M (1931). Lang left Germany as Hitler came into power, and he found ways to through any negative aspect of the Nazis in all of his subsequent films. He was obsessed with showing justice being robbed. Guilt or innocence made no difference in his world. He simply showed power being abused and corrupted.
   Yet there are some good guys around. Bannion finds help from an odd group of people, such as the dead policemans mistress Lucy Chapman (Dorothy Green) and Debby. Bannion is cold to everyone he meets. His bitterness is found throughout, and he only seems to regain his humanity when he sees another person he cares for die. Debbys death is seen as a sacrifice to Bannion.
   Bannions home is seen as the ideal American family. Every possession is being shared, and they are always happy with each other. It is only when Katie Bannion (Jocelyn Brando) leaves the house that she is killed. Who knows if there was an intention to show that a womans place is in the home. After she dies, Bannion sells the modest home, which he feels is of no use to him. There is a typical indictment of capitalism. Whoever has the bigger house, is more corrupt. Only honest man Bannion lives in a modest one story home. Everyone else is living in luxury, and is corrupt. Perhaps more political analysis was attempted by showing that you couldnt be honest and wealthy.
   There is one problem with the Big Heat, and that is the pacing. The film is about an hour and a half, but it does move slow. This isnt the deliberately slow pace of such mesmerizing Kubrick or Tarkovsky pictures. Instead this film seems just slower moving. Now perhaps this was slow moving because it was a little confusing. You have to think quickly while watching noir films. Things arent usually explained in much detail. Instead you have to be as quick as the detective or hero who is trying to get to the bottom of whatever is going on. So if you are confused, sometimes you can get frustrated. No noir film can even come close to the similarly titled Big Sleep (1946) as being the most confusing film ever. It is said that the author Raymond Chandler didnt even know who dunnit. The Big Heat may be a little easier to follow, but it isnt that simple. Its potential confusion is only one reason to return to it. If you need another Ill give you one, Gloria Grahame.

Grade A