Overview
A relentless cop seeks vengeance against a corrupt underworld that took everything from him.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- bleak
- tense
- visceral
- classic noir night
- serious crime film evening
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Fritz Lang's tense, forceful noir as a highly effective study of corruption and vengeance, strengthened by its supporting performances and shocking violence.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Dave Bannion transforms from an upright detective into an obsessive avenger after the gang's car bomb kills his wife.
Bannion's investigation into a colleague's suicide reveals that fellow officers and officials are controlled by gangsters.
Debby Marsh aids Bannion while the film presents women as casualties of gangster violence and Bannion's indirect destructive obsession.
The coffee-throwing assault on Debby is an especially notorious instance of sudden, visceral violence.
Films like The Big Heat, and why
Touch of Evil
shared film noir atmosphere, institutional corruption, and morally corrosive revenge
The Maltese Falcon
shared hard-boiled crime investigation, urban corruption, and bleak moral intensity
Out of the Past
shared noir fatalism, criminal power structures, and psychologically driven vengeance
Double Indemnity
shared film noir style, obsessive protagonists, and destructive corruption
Movie Details
- Director
- Fritz Lang
- Release Date
- 1953-10-14
- Runtime
- 89 min
- Rating
- 7.7 / 10 (577)
Cast
- Glenn Ford
- Gloria Grahame
- Jocelyn Brando
- Alexander Scourby
- Lee Marvin
- Jeanette Nolan
- Peter Whitney
- Willis Bouchey
- Robert Burton
- Adam Williams
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- YouTube TV, Sony Pictures Core Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Big Heat about?
- An incorruptible detective wages a brutal one-man campaign against the gangster network that destroyed his family and corrupted his police department.
- What is The Big Heat like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Big Heat as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Big Heat violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Big Heat as graphic.
- What did critics think of The Big Heat?
- Critics broadly regard Fritz Lang's tense, forceful noir as a highly effective study of corruption and vengeance, strengthened by its supporting performances and shocking violence.
- Which films are like The Big Heat?
- Films with a similar feel include Touch of Evil, The Maltese Falcon, Out of the Past, and Double Indemnity.
- How long is The Big Heat?
- The Big Heat runs 89 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Big Heat?
- In United States, The Big Heat streams on YouTube TV, Sony Pictures Core Amazon Channel.
