''The Big Combo'' is a 1955 American film noir crime film directed by

Joseph H. Lewis Joseph H. Lewis (April 6, 1907 – August 30, 2000) was an American B-movie film director whose stylish flourishes came to be appreciated by auteur theory-espousing film critics in the years following his retirement in 1966. In a 30-year direc ...

, written by

Philip Yordan Philip Yordan (April 1, 1914 – March 24, 2003) was an American screenwriter of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who produced several films. He acted as a front for blacklisted writers although his use of surrogate screenwriters predates the McCar ...

and photographed by cinematographer

John Alton John Alton (October 5, 1901 – June 2, 1996), born Johann Jacob Altmann, in Sopron, Kingdom of Hungary, was an American cinematographer of Hungarian-German origin. Alton photographed some of the most famous films noir of the classic period and wo ...

, with music by

David Raksin David Raksin (August 4, 1912 – August 9, 2004) was an American composer who was noted for his work in film and television. With more than 100 film scores and 300 television scores to his credit, he became known as the "Grandfather of Film Music ...

. The film stars

Cornel Wilde Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker. Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited app ...

Richard Conte Nicholas Peter Conte (March 24, 1910 – April 15, 1975), known professionally as Richard Conte, was an American actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from the 1940s through 1970s, including '' I'll Cry Tomorrow'', ''Ocean's 11'', and ''Th ...

and

Brian Donlevy Waldo Brian Donlevy (February 9, 1901 – April 6, 1972) was an American actor, noted for playing dangerous tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best-known films are '' Beau Geste'' (19 ...

, as well as Jean Wallace, who was Wilde's wife at the time. The supporting cast features

Lee Van Cleef Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, parti ...

, Earl Holliman and the final screen appearance of actress Helen Walker.

Plot

Police Lt. Leonard Diamond is on a personal crusade to bring down the sadistic gangster Mr. Brown. He is also dangerously obsessed with Brown's girlfriend, the suicidal Susan Lowell. His main objective as a detective is to uncover what happened to a woman called "Alicia" from the crime boss's past. Mr. Brown, his second-in-command McClure, and thugs Fante and Mingo kidnap and torture the lieutenant, then pour a bottle of alcohol-based hair tonic down his throat before letting him go. Diamond eventually learns through one of Brown's past accomplices, Bettini, that Alicia was actually Brown's wife. Bettini suspects that Alicia was sent away to Sicily with former mob boss Grazzi, then murdered, tied to the boat's anchor, and permanently submerged. Diamond questions a Swede named Dreyer, who was the skipper of that boat but now operates an antiques store as a front, bankrolled by Brown. Dreyer denies involvement and does not want to disclose anything to Diamond, but is nonetheless murdered by McClure shortly after leaving his shop later that day. Diamond tries to persuade Susan to leave Brown and admits he might be in love with her. He shows her a photo of Brown, Alicia and Grazzi together on the boat. Susan finally confronts Brown about his wife and is told she is still alive in Sicily, living with Grazzi. Brown orders a hit on Diamond. However, when his gunmen Fante and Mingo go to Diamond's apartment, they mistakenly shoot and kill Diamond's burlesque dancer girlfriend Rita instead. Diamond sees an up-to-date photo of Alicia but realizes it wasn't taken in Sicily (since there's snow on the ground). This leads Diamond to suspect Brown did not kill Alicia but his boss Grazzi instead. Diamond is able to track Alicia to a sanitarium, where she is staying under another name. He asks for her help. Meanwhile, Brown's right-hand man, McClure, wants to take over. He plots with Fante and Mingo to ambush Mr. Brown, but they betray and murder him. McClure is dependent upon a hearing aid. Fante and Mingo dismantle it and machine gun McClure in pantomime silence, unable to hear his pleas for mercy. At police headquarters, Brown shows up with a writ of ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

'', effectively preventing Alicia testifying against her husband. Brown also takes a big stash of "money" to Fante and Mingo while they are hiding out from the police, but the box turns out to contain a bomb that apparently kills both of them. Brown shoots Diamond's partner, Sam, and kidnaps Susan, planning to fly away to safety. However, Mingo survived the assassination attempt by Brown, and he confesses to Diamond that Brown was behind all the murders while sobbing over the body of his cohort. Alicia is able to help Diamond figure out that Brown took Susan to a private airport where he intends to board his getaway plane. However, Brown's plane does not show up and the film climaxes in a foggy hangar shootout. Susan shines the

fog lamp The lighting system of a motor vehicle consists of lighting and signalling devices mounted to or integrated into the front, rear, sides, and in some cases the top of a motor vehicle. They illuminate the road ahead for the driver and increase th ...

from Brown's car in his eyes, effectively blinding him, allowing Diamond to arrest him. The last scene shows the silhouetted figures of Diamond and Susan in the fog, considered to be one of the iconic images of film noir.

Cast

as Police Lt. Leonard Diamond *

as Mr. Brown *

as Joe McClure * Jean Wallace as Susan Lowell *

Robert Middleton Robert Middleton (born Samuel G. Messer, May 13, 1911 – June 14, 1977) was an American film and television actor known for his large size, beetle-like brows, and a deep, booming voice (for which he was known as "Big Bob Middleton"), usually ...

as Police Capt. Peterson *

as Fante * Earl Holliman as Mingo * Helen Walker as Alicia Brown *

Jay Adler Jay Adler (August 4, 1896 – September 24, 1978) was an American actor in theater, television, and film. Early life Born in New York City, he was the eldest son of actors Jacob and Sara Adler, and the brother of five actor siblings, including st ...

as Sam Hill *

John Hoyt John Hoyt (born John McArthur Hoysradt; October 5, 1905 – September 15, 1991) was an American actor. He began his acting career on Broadway, later appearing in numerous films and television series. He is perhaps best known for his film and TV ...

as Nils Dreyer * Ted de Corsia as Ralph Bettini * Helene Stanton as Rita * Roy Gordon as Audubon * Whit Bissell as Doctor (scenes deleted) (as Whit Bissel) * Steve Michaell as Bennie Smith – Boxer *

Baynes Barron Bernard Miller (May 29, 1917 – July 21, 1982) was an American film and television actor. Born in New York. Barron began his career in 1946, first appearing in the film '' The Secret of the Whistler''. He then made his television debut in 1951 ...

as Young Detective * James McCallion as Frank – Technician * Tony Michaels as Photo Technician * Brian O'Hara as Attorney Malloy * Bruce Sharpe Detective * Michael Mark as Fred – Hotel Clerk *

Philip Van Zandt Philip Van Zandt (October 4, 1904 – February 15, 1958), sometimes billed as Phil Van Zandt, was a Dutch-American actor of stage, film, and television. He made nearly 250 film and television appearances between 1939 and 1958. Life and career ...

as Mr. Jones (scenes deleted) * Donna Drew as Miss Hartleby

Production

The film was initially called ''The Hoodlum'' based on a story by Philip Yordan. It was originally going to be directed by

Hugo Fregonese Hugo Geronimo Fregonese (April 8, 1908 in Mendoza – January 11, 1987 in Tigre) was an Argentine film director and screenwriter who worked both in Hollywood and his home country.''Cine Nacional''Hugo Fregonese filmography Cinenacional.com ...

for producer Milton Sperling. Sperling tried to cast

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...

for the lead. The script was reportedly in great demand with Yordan apparently turning down offers of $75,000. Eventually the film was a co production between Theodora, the production company of Cornel Wilde and Jean Wallace, and Security, a company of Phil Yordan and Sidney Harmon. Wilde changed the title to "The Big Combination" and Jean Wallace suggested it be shortened to "The Big Combo". Jack Palance was originally cast opposite Wilde. Filming was brought forward to start September 7, because of studio space availability. Palance dropped out of the film, claiming he wanted a week off after finishing

Victor Saville Victor Saville (25 September 1895 – 8 May 1979) was an English film director, producer, and screenwriter. He directed 39 films between 1927 and 1954. He also produced 36 films between 1923 and 1962. Biography Saville produced his first f ...

's '' The Silver Chalice'' (1954) with

Virginia Mayo Virginia Mayo (born Virginia Clara Jones; November 30, 1920 – January 17, 2005) was an American actress and dancer. She was in a series of comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Brothers' biggest box-office money-maker in the late 1940s. ...

and Paul Newman in his first movie role. Another source says Palance was unhappy his wife was not cast in the second female lead. He was replaced by Richard Conte. Conte's casting meant the start date for another film, ''

Cry Vengeance ''Cry Vengeance'' is a 1954 American film noir crime film directed by and starring Mark Stevens.. The cast also includes Joan Vohs and Martha Hyer. It was produced by Lindsley Parsons and distributed by Allied Artists. Plot San Francisco ex-cop ...

'', had to be pushed back. The film also marked the conclusion of Helen Walker's film career; she was consigned to a small role in ''The Big Combo''. The film was shot in 26 days.

Reception

Critical response

The staff at ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine liked the film's direction, music and photography, despite "a rambling, not-too-credible plot." They wrote, "Performances are in keeping with the bare-knuckle direction by Joseph Lewis and, on that score, are good.

Low-key photography Low-key photography is a genre of photography consisting of shooting dark-colored scenes by lowering or dimming the " key" or front light illuminating the scene (low-key lighting), and emphasizing natural or artificial light only on specific area ...

, one of his best, and a jazz-derived score by

with solo piano by Jacob Gimpel are in keeping with the film's tough mood." Reviews of the movie today are mostly positive. Chris Dashiell on the website ''CineScene'' finds the dialogue "run of the mill" but praises the film's director, writing that "Lewis had a remarkable ability to infuse poetry into the most banal material, and ''The Big Combo'' is one of his best efforts... it's not as startlingly inventive as Lewis's best film, ''

Gun Crazy ''Gun Crazy'' (also known as ''Deadly Is the Female'') is a 1950 American crime film noir starring Peggy Cummins and John Dall in a story about the crime-spree of a gun-toting husband and wife. It was directed by Joseph H. Lewis, and produced ...

'' (1949), but it's a quality B-film, satisfying and dark." Film critic Ed Gonzalez lauded the film in his review, writing, "Shadows and lies are the stars of ''The Big Combo'', a spellbinding black-and-white chiaroscuro with the segmented texture of a spider's web ... John Alton's lush camera work is so dominant here you wouldn't know Joseph H. Lewis was also behind the camera. The story doesn't have any of the he-she psychosexual politicking that juices the director's ''

'', but that's no loss given this film's richer returns. The set-pieces are fierce, as is the '' Casablanca'' tweak of the last shot, and Wallace's performance—a sad spectacle of a hurting creature caught between light and dark, good and evil—is one of noir's great unheralded triumphs." Critics have compared the quality of ''The Big Combo'' to

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...

's ''

The Big Heat ''The Big Heat'' is a 1953 American film noir crime film directed by Fritz Lang starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, and Jocelyn Brando about a cop who takes on the crime syndicate that controls his city. William P. McGivern's serial in ''The ...

'' as one of the great film noir detective classics in terms of style. The review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported that 92% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 13 reviews, with a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

of 7.04/10.''The Big Combo''
at

. Last accessed: July 8, 2019.

Home media

The film was released on Blu-ray in a new HD restoration in 2019 by Arrow Films in the UK and Eire.

Soundtrack

Most film noir movies feature scores that are orchestral, with strings. In contrast, ''The Big Combo'' is one of the few that have a score with brass and trumpets and with woodwinds and saxophones.

References

External links

* * * * * *
''The Big Combo''
at ''Images Journal''
''The Big Combo''
title sequence at Veoh (features David Raksin's music) {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Combo, The 1955 films 1950s crime thriller films Allied Artists films American crime thriller films American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films Film noir Films about organized crime in the United States Films directed by Joseph H. Lewis Films scored by David Raksin American police detective films 1950s American films