The Big Heat (1953)

*****
Dir. Fritz Lang
Well, I've just started classes at NCSU, so I decided to review the first full-length movie we watched in Intro to Film. The Big Heat is a 1953 film noir directed by Fritz Lang. With a compelling plotline and effective uses of lighting and cinematography, this picture is worthy of comparison to John Huston's classic The Maltese Falcon (1941).

Following the structure of films within this genre, Lang opens with a grotesque suicide scene. Receiving a call that one of his colleagues has shot himself, Detective Sgt. Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) embarks on an investigation that will challenge him with matters of life and death. As the clean-shaven, heroic figure finds himself on the trail of a vicious band of gangsters whom he suspects to have power over other officers inside the force, he puts both himself and his wife and daughter in grave danger. When his wife is killed by a bomb which was intended for him, the once admirable Detective becomes the very manifestation of vengeance. Driven by his unquenchable thirst, he and the lead gangster's spurned girlfriend Debby Marsh (Gloria Grahame) will use any means necessary in order to discover the truth underlying these mysterious events.

As with other Fritz Lang films, the central conflict in this story is more internal than external. Although there are characters that are clear representations of good and evil, the primary antagonist lies within Bannion. In the exposition, he is depicted as the ideal model of justice and dignity in a world of corruption. Yet upon suffering the death of his beloved wife, he falls down the path of the tragic hero. Lang displays an excellent use of tactics in portraying the different stages of this character's development. Not only does the lighting correlate well with the tone of Sydney Boehm's script, but elements such as these are used to signify key components of human nature.

This psychological approach helps viewers understand Lang's underlying message in this film: we are all corruptible. The more we think of ourselves as naturally good people, the more we neglect examples in history (the Nuremberg Trials) and in scientific theory (the Stanley Milgram Experiment), which contradict this New Age philosophy.

Fritz Lang was one of the best Filmmakers of his time, and his work in this particular genre was a fundamental aspect of his career. Not only is The Big Heat an excellent crime drama, but it is a film noir which will challenge one's perception of society.