Film: The Big Combo (1954)
Showing: Tue Dec 29, 1.10am, BBC2
Why It’s A Must-See: Hard-boiled, murky and savagely menacing; this John Alton-shot noir thriller details the cat-and-mouse pursuit of deranged kingpin Mr Brown by obsessed cop (and would-be suitor to the current Mrs Brown) Leonard Diamond.
The film was unusually bleak and aggressive for its time, but even so, it’s Alton’s stunning monochrome photography that’s the real revelation here.
Don’t Get Up For A Mince Pie...during the final scenes around the aeroplane hangar. In them, we find our key protagonists silhouetted against swirling fog, chewing out a brooding climax that could easily be used as some stark synecdochic reference point for the noir genre in its entirety.
Next: Midnight Run
Comments
sleepwalker
Dec 8th 2009, 12:52
Wasnt Sparrow's rum burning tantrum in the first one!
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sleepwalker
Dec 8th 2009, 12:54
Wasnt Sparrows rum burning tantrum in the first one!
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MarkPowell
Dec 8th 2009, 16:55
Quite right sleepwalker...good spot, dunno quite how I managed that one! Amended to what it was supposed to have been originally now, ta.
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hughjass1970
Dec 8th 2009, 22:04
Dances With Wolves - catch the James Cameron remake in theatres from 17th Dec!
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Ali1748
Dec 9th 2009, 1:32
Midnight Run is such a vastly underrated film.
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lpatterson
Dec 9th 2009, 10:51
This is a brilliant feature! Now I don't have to spend two hours with the frickin Radio Times.
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Hadouken76
Dec 9th 2009, 12:59
dick tracys 'The Blank' was basically a rip off of Rorschach
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KerrAvon
Dec 9th 2009, 15:15
No Scrooged, shocking.
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KerrAvon
Dec 9th 2009, 15:16
Or Bad Santa Christmas is ruined.
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badblokebob
Dec 11th 2009, 15:18
And there I was thinking Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was an adaptation of a book by this guy called Roald Dahl.
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