The Big Heat(1953)

[Deej]

Just finished this one, a netflix rental. Crazy-good b&w film noir. Awesome cast with Lee Marvin as the heavy, uber-vixen Gloria Grahame as the femme-fatale, and Glenn Ford as one hell of an angry cop.

I'm a noir superfreak, great genre, and this is one of the best I've ever seen! This is a super dark, gritty, somewhat brutal movie with a butt-load of surprises. Watching it, it seemed hard to believe that it was made in the 50's, really didn't pull any punches. It has one of the best cast of thriller vets I've ever seen(next to Kansas City Confidential) and every one does a damned fine job of acting.

I've never been a Glenn Ford fan, mostly having seen his westerns of the 60's, and not particularly enjoying them. But, he was friggin' AWESOME in this flick, all quiet anger, and pent up fury. Wicked cool! I strongly recommend this one, even for those who aren't fans of the genre or of B&W flicks. Fan-frikkin'-tastic!! Our neighbor, who doesn't even like vintage movies, even stuck around to finish this one....it's that good!

One complaint....tough guys don't look tough in their PJ's!

Next up..The Big Combo...followed by  The Big Knife....sense a pattern here?

[Scott]

I'll keep it in mind Deej. I'm sure if NETFLIX is renting film noir that it's something unique and interesting. I still want to see all the Cagney, Bogart, and Edward G. Robinson films gangster films. I believe Alan Ladd did alot of the detective/crime type films. I see a couple years ago but don't remember the names of the films. TMC (and even AMC) still have a few goods one yet to see. Nothing like a good b/w film.

[Deej]

Oh yeah, Scott!!! The Best!! If you're interested, here are some of my favorite B&W noir and thriller flicks:

Cagney:
Angels with Dirty Faces (W/ Bogart)
The Roaring Twenties(w/Bogart)
Each Dawn I die
White Heat(Made it Ma, Top o' the world!)

Bogart:
Dead End
High Sierra
The Maltese Falcon
The Big Sleep
All Through The Night(Nazi's p**s Bogie off by killing his cheesecake baker!)
Across The Pacific
Dark Passage
Key Largo
The Desperate Hours

Alan Ladd:
This Gun For Hire
The Glass Key
The Blue Dahlia

Robert Mitchum:
Out Of The Past
Crossfire
Macao
The Racket
The Big Steal

Misc:
The Kiss Of Death
Murder, My Sweet
Roadhouse
The Big Heat
The Killing
The Narrow Margin
Laura
Nocturne
Kansas City Confidential

[Scott]

Here are the ones you mentioned that I have seen:

Angels with Dirty Faces (seen it when young and parts of it recently)
High Sierra
The Maltese Falcon
Key Largo

Other Bogart films I like are:

Treasure of Sierra Madre
African Queen
Casablanca

and I can never remember the name of the one where he gets face surgery. What is the name of that film?

[Deej]

That was Dark Passage, Scott. The film is shot from Bogie's perspective until the bandages come off and we see his new face, almost maddening! Treasure...Casablanca, and The African Queen are good ones!

Just on a goof, you might want to check out The Man With Bogart's Face. It's a spoof made in the 80's, starring a guy who looks remarkably like Bogie. He plays a guy who get's surgery to look like Bogie, then goes into the Detective business...hilarity ensues! Not a bad flick, not a good flick, but plenty of inside jokes, 80's booby humor and some interesting cameos. Very good as a curiosity!

[Scott]

Yea, that's the one DARK PASSAGE. I liked that one. We talked about another one that I found a Hollywood video called  ACROOS THE PACIFIC. It's one my list of films to rent.