THE BIG HEAT - Film Noir Classics

Showings

Cinema Arts Centre - Cinema 2 Mon, Jan 8, 2018 7:30 PM

Description

FILM NOIR CLASSICS     

Hosted by Dean of Film Noir, Foster Hirsch

THE BIG HEAT

Directed by Fritz Lang

Monday, January 8  at 7::30 pm

Members $11 | Public $16 | Includes reception


Fritz Lang’s scorching tale of one cop’s fight against corruption is one of the masterpieces of film noir.


One of the great films of the '50s, Fritz Lang's scalding noir packs more than major heat. Glenn Ford stars as Dave Bannion, a homicide detective in an unnamed city rife with corruption who gets suspended from the force when his obsessive pursuit of mob boss Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby) threatens to uncover connections with the local police. Packing the frame with tension while keeping most of the violence offscreen — though a maiming by hot coffee made the film legendary — Lang elicits career-high turns from his iconic principals: Glenn Ford’s principled intensity as Bannion contrasts perfectly with the coiled, inarticulate violence of Lee Marvin’s brutal hood Vince Stone, whose moll Debby (Gloria Graham, in a for-the-ages performance) learns that honesty comes at a high price. (USA, 1953, 89 min., NR, English| Dir. Fritz Lang)