Mon 28 Jan 2008
THE BIG COMBO. Allied Artists, 1955. Cornel Wilde, Richard Conte, Brian Donlevy, Jean Wallace, Lee Van Cleef, Earl Holliman, Helen Walker, Helene Stanton. Director: Joseph H. Lewis. Original music by David Raksin.
This one’s the real deal. In the last week or so I’ve been telling you about bits and pieces of various movies that were noirish in nature, but by 1955 directors and cinematographers (John Alton, in this case, of Raw Deal and I, the Jury fame) who worked with noir films knew exactly what they were doing, and they did it well.
Mike Grost has done a superbly in-depth online analysis of the films of Joseph H. Lewis (no relation), and you should go read it. The Big Combo is one of his films that comes in for a lot of attention, including a good many things that didn’t register for me on my first time through. (Mike admits that he has watched many of Lewis’s films more than once.)
I’ll not repeat any of Mike’s thoughts and facts about the film. I don’t mind repeating myself by saying that you should go read it for yourself. I’ll be content to relay to you my impressions and not rely on any of his.
And impression number one is the reason I included David Raksin’s musical score in the credits. The loud jazzy opening scene, with a good-looking blonde running frantically from two thugs in the shadowy depths of a boxing arena is one of the finest in recent memory. Made me think the movie was about a jazz band (The Big Combo), in fact, but no, not so.
No, the Big Combo is essentially Mr. Big’s gang, Mr. Big being Mr. Brown (Richard Conte); the girl on the run is his girl (Susan Lowell, played by Jean Wallace); and the job the two thugs are doing (Fante and Mingo, aka Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman) is to make sure she doesn’t get away from him.
Cornel Wilde as Lt. Diamond is the detective obsessed with bringing Mr. Brown to justice. That he is also obsessed with Susan Lowell, and in fact in love with her from afar — she does not even know of his existence — is getting him in trouble with the people who pay the bills. He has gone far beyond his department’s allotment of funds, and so far to no avail.
(That Jean Wallace was also Mrs. Cornel Wilde I did not know while watching the film. She is worthy of obsessing over, and so she fits the role perfectly, but her acting is only slightly above the ability of usual female model who goes to Hollywood.)
Better, I thought, was Helene Stanton as Rita, a showgirl of Diamond’s long acquaintance to whom he turns for solace when things begin to look their darkest. It is hinted at that perhaps she is more than a showgirl, for the place where she works is not the most upscale of joints.
This movie also hints at several other things, including the relationship between Fante and Mungo, which could be debated, as hints are all you are going to get.
Taunted by Mr. Brown into a fury, Diamond aches to find some hold or some charge he can get him on. That he makes only $96.50 a week only adds to the resentment. Mr. Brown does not hesitate to rub it in. The name “Alicia” means something to Mr. Brown, however, and it takes a nice bit of detective work to track down who she is and what she means to him.
I have not mentioned Brian Donlevy, who plays Joe McClure, a broken-down and not too intelligent assistant to Mr. Brown, outwardly always in his place, but inwardly frustrated at having been passed over when the position at the top of the gang became available. He wears a hearing aid, a fact ordinarily not worth mentioning, but in this case it is, and twice, both in scenes crucial to the story.
I did not care for the ending as much as most reviewers seem to have. Mr. Brown’s fall came too quickly to suit me, although it certainly came as no surprise that it happened, and that there was a way out that he didn’t take advantage of — well, it was a disappointment to me.
A minor quibble, perhaps. Otherwise, as I said at the beginning, this is the real thing. Fine acting, fine directing, and fine movie-making, all on a low B-movie budget. I dare not ask for more, nor should you.
January 29th, 2008 at 8:16 am
Nice review Steve. The Big Combo is one of the most interesting film noirs. For a 1955 movie to show Mingo and Fante as gay hitmen is very surprising. Also unusual for a 1955 film is when Conte starts kissing Jean Wallace and slowly moves down her body until he obviously is performing oral sex. The censors tried to get this scene deleted but Lewis called their bluff by simply pretending there was no proof of any sexual activity. See the long interview with Lewis in Bogdanovich’s Who The Devil Made It. Also Mike Nevins’ book on Joseph H. Lewis is very interesting.
January 29th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Steve,
Thank you very much for your recommendation of my web site!
I really enjoyed your vivid account of The Big Combo.
The Big Combo is a terrific detection story. Genuine detection runs through many of Lewis’ films, both his crime thrillers and his Westerns. It is no coincidence that the two books on Lewis, Francis M. Nevins’ and mine, are both by people with backgrounds in the mystery field.
“Joseph H. Lewis: Overview, Interview, and Filmography” (1998) by Francis M. Nevins is an outstanding look at Lewis. Nevins knew Lewis personally, and the heart of Nevins’ book is a lengthy interview with the director. Lewis really comes alive as a filmmaker and a person in Nevins’ study.
I never knew Lewis, and there is no inside info about Lewis at all in my web-book. Instead, it tries to study Lewis’ films in detail, setting forth the common subjects and film techniques that run through Lewis’ films. IMHO, Nevins’ very good print-book and my web-book are complementary to each other, both trying to inform readers as much as possible about Lewis and his films.
Thanks,
Mike (Grost)
January 29th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Mike Nevins has mentioned both his book and his friendship with Joseph H. Lewis in one of his columns for this blog, but I was obviously in some sort of disconnect when I failed to mention it in the review, and I should have.
Of course it would have helped if I actually had a copy of the book, a lapse on my part which I’ll have to remedy right away, if not immediately.
—Steve
December 10th, 2008 at 7:17 am
Hi, the web site of Mike is no more accessible, since hometown has been shut down. Is there any possibility how to view mikes info about Lewis’s films?
Thank you
-Barbara
December 10th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Barbara
Looks like all of Mike’s online material has a new location. The URL for his long detailed study of Joseph H. Lewis’s films is http://mikegrost.com/lewis.htm . I’ve also fixed the link in the review.
Thanks for letting me know!
— Steve
November 15th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
[…] was reminded a bit of Lee Marvin and Earl Holliman’s homo-erotic hoods from Joseph L. Lewis The Big Combo and George Sanders as the strange forger and thief from John Larkin’s Quiet Please, Murder!, […]