JohnHowardReid
We expect much from director Joseph H. Lewis, writer Philip Yordan and photographer John Alton, and this trio of talented movie-makers certainly doesn't disappoint their fans with their moody, highly atmospheric The Big Combo. The actors are first-class too. For once in a film noir, the women have major and important roles as well as the men. Jean Wallace is especially effective as the frightened heroine who disguises her fear by adopting a semblance of bravado, while Helen Walker plays most effectively as the long awaited Alicia. Cornel Wilde has one of his best roles as the persuasive hero, while Richard Conte does the incredibly evil bad guy proud. Even the smaller roles are brilliantly characterized and played. You really have to see the movie twice to fully appreciate all the startling effects and characterizations it has to offer. Available on a really excellent Geneon DVD which has no censor cuts – unlike the movie I saw in the cinema way back on February 28, 1957, when it ran two weeks at the local Palace.
SnoopyStyle
Police Lt. Diamond (Cornel Wilde) investigates criminal boss Mr. Brown (Richard Conte). Nothing works and Diamond is being pressured to drop the case. There's a mysterious Alicia. He goes after Brown's girlfriend Susan Lowell (Jean Wallace).This is dripping with the hard-boiled noir style. The cinematography is mostly great. The dialog and the acting are all very mannered and stylized. It's definitely a B-movie but it's a good B-movie. My biggest problem is the lack of presence from the main actors. They're all good character actors but I wouldn't say any of them are stars. Again this is only a B-movie.
alwaysdubbin91
OK, this was a total gangster movie, i thought the story was fairly strong , but also quite complex, which was good at times, but it did lose me at one point. one thing i would have done was dress people a little more distinctly, i had a bit of trouble recognizing who was who. as far as filming goes i wouldn't say it was anything exceptional, except for the last scene, they really had some fun with the lighting on that one, which was pretty cool. it seemed to be quite similar to most other gangster films, just with a few more twists to keep track of. but all in all i would say it's a decent film and worth a watch, maybe not all that much more.
vladimir jaksic
The Big Combo is definitely in my opinion one of the best film-noirs ever. Sometimes I wonder how that some movies (Hitchcock's Notorious for example) are better rated on film-noir top lists than this one, because "Combo" deserves to bee at least in top 10. At first story looks cheesy and well known, but later it gets more and more interesting and really drags you into this movie. Although this movie had small budget it looks better and more elegant than some A-list motion pictures from that period of Hollywood cinema. The photography is simply fantastic. Director of photography John Alton did a really great job. "The dance" of light and shadows is simply amazing. One more thing that's not in common with The Big Combo and other noirs is that The Big Combo contains slightly more violence and "black" humor. Example of that is scene where Mr. Brown with Fante and Mingo kills Joe McClure. At the end I would recommend this classic to everyone who simply want to see a great drama or to those who are into film-noir.
AD
