The Big Combo

Excellent noir centered around an obsessed detective, played wonderfully by Wilde who really sells it without going over the top. It also helps that Richard Conte is great as his nemesis, a suave and smart man who shows few signs of being rattled until the inevitable end. Great pacing and a well executed ending to cap it off. The only weak point was the leading lady, Jean Wallace is attractive but not a strong actress.

Excellent noir. It has a thick, moody atmosphere, assisted by shadowy cinematography. Conte makes a fantastic villain. The trail of corpses he leaves in his wake is impressive, and the film is pretty violent for its time. Wilde holds up his end as well, driven as much by his infatuation as his sense of justice. Wallace is rather weak, though her role is smaller than you'd expect. There's some wonderful supporting performances, especially Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman as Conte's henchmen.

One of the best looking movies John Alton’s finest hour. Every shadow lurks the evils of man. Every light angelically frames those who deserve it. Where the power of light ends an evil man’s massacre. A cynical brand of hope. Brutal movie with enough torture to make anyone queasy. Gay undertones throughout “the cops will be looking for us in every closet”.

That moment when you realize all charismatic bad guys for the next half-century were really just emulating Richard Conte in this one.

The script is nothing special (except for a few good lines and exchanges), but at least the cast sells it well. The cinematography is what really makes this film shine. I guess I just like good looking noir movies so much that I can excuse the weaker aspects of the film.

Fun, but I thought it was kind of overcooked. The plot is pretty twisty but feels arbitrary, with some rather abrupt reveals and shifts. I did really enjoy Conte as the villain, though. As far as the cinematography goes, Netflix's version was pretty soft, so I probably didn't get to see the film in its best light (pun intended). I'll have to revisit it when a better version is available.

On the darker end of the noir spectrum, this is gritty, violent stuff. The torture scene with the hearing-aid is truly chilling. In certain respects it reminded me of HBO's The Wire. Wilde's character could be Jimmy McNulty's grandad... an obsessive, self-destructive personality with a penchant for booze and cheap sex, determined to bring down one man, no matter what the cost. I'd be surprised if David Simon hasn't seen this. (Apropos of nothing: Holy crap, how gorgeous is Jean Wallace?!)

Fantastic. Wilde manages to (mostly) hold his own against Conte's imposingly smooth menace as a fraying, obsessed detective. Van Cleef and Holliman are equally memorable taking care of the dirty work. Alton's top-billing lighting. Bleak, unglamorous violence. There are just so many things right about it.

Left, left, right, left, right, jab, jab, upper cut, Alicia, right, right, left.

This is one hello of a tough little film that feels utterly unseemly at every turn.

From the beginning, a focus establishes around a detective and his mission to catch a ruthless criminal. Both roles are wonderfully executed by Wilde and Conte, with the latter playing one of the best noir villains. With a good quality copy, also the cinematography merits high praise.

Strong noir with a pretty standard trope of the fighting-for-justice cop becoming obsessed with a case against an unshakeable crime lord. The two leads were impressive; I also liked the three henchmen, but didn't think the femme fatale was able to do much with her role. The nice shadowy shots -- especially in the two airport scenes -- help this film punch a little above its weight.

Império do Crime estreava há 65 anos na Espanha. Outro fino noir entregue por Lewis, não sei se este é seu melhor filme ou se o título pertence a Gun Crazy, mas a miríade de personagens interessantes e a fotografia do John Alton fazem deste um dos mais memoráveis do entardecer da época de ouro do noir. Box Versátil Filme Noir Volume 10.

A very hard-boiled noir film that still manages to pack a punch. The lead is not very charismatic but the story is strong and the acting is solid.

The absolutely beautiful use of lighting doesn't pull the film away from the poorly motivated protagonist and the stilted acting by the secondary characters, but it's by no means a poor film.

Fascinating. Full of all manner of odd touches--strange acting choices, scenes that end so abruptly it's momentarily disorienting, and not least being the two inseparable hitmen that are clearly lovers. Some of it works, and some of it really doesn't, but it holds your interest. The classic noir look of the film is beautiful.

Star Rating: ★★★★

Gotham movie without Batman. It's a perfect gangster movie more than just a film noir.

Decent film. I realize this is a noir, but they seemed to go a little overboard on the lack of lighting in some of the scenes. (ps: 68)

I normally don't think much of Richard Conte, but he plays it up here as a ruthless villain. It's an unusually violent film for its time, with a high body count and even an unorthodox torture scene. John Alton's cinematography is the usual low-key, moody stuff you expect. A good film, but lacking the moral ambiguity or psychological tension that is usually required of noir.

the whole noir lighting definitely shows through, but the entire movie here looks like it's overexposed. i enjoyed the movie, even if there's a bit of over acting here and there (except for conte, he was awesome). it's got a pretty decent story and the bottom line is that there's a whole heck of a lot of worse noir movies out there, even if this isn't the best.

No, it's not a film about an extra-large Happy Meal, it's a hard-boiled chunk of pulp fiction directed by Joseph Lewis and artfully photographed by John Alton. Enough odd touches (over-the-top violence, homoeroticism, Conte's performance) keep this above average.

Its something to see for the lighting alone, which has almost always been exceptional what Film Noirs I've seen. What causes me to knock a mark off this solid piece of gritty B-movie is that, for a genre which used its morally grey worlds to demonstrate issues of morality more poignantly than hammering it into the viewer, the character of Lt. Leonard Diamond is prevented from being the flawed hero who fights crime by irritating soapbox rants about justice out of place in these films.

A low budget noir classic.

Amazing cinematography. If it wasn't for the absence of a femme fatale and the underwhelming final 20 minutes, this would be the definition of the film noir genre.

Ostensibly film noir, but firmly grounded in typical Hollywood morality. The plot may be blasé, but the cinematography makes it all worthwhile. This film nails the noir aesthetic: even the shadows cast more shadows! Recommended for its visual impact.

What can I say, I'm a huge sucker for film noir....

Even if it is not as good as Gun Crazy it is quite a nice Film Noir with pretty remarkeble pictures - especially in the end. You can't expect more from a b-movie.