User reviews

Now that DVD is fast becoming the medium of choice for many film enthusiasts, some lesser known, lower budget titles are finding their way to wider audiences.

Joseph Lewis's "The Big Combo" has made this trip to digital, and thankfully none of the film's captivating sleaze has been stripped away in the transfer.

What appears to be a fairly stock story of straight-arrow police detective Leonard Diamond (Cornel Wilde) obsessed with capturing a foreboding gangland chieftain, Mr. Brown, "Combo" is an unusually hardboiled, over the top tale of revenge and murder that will please and perhaps even surprise noir and crime-drama fans.

Over the course of the protracted investigation, Diamond, who has nearly lost his badge because of his stubborn determination, has fallen for the boss's dame -- a society girl gone so wrong she figures suicide is the only way out. But Mr. Brown (Richard Conte, excellent as the 'last-name only' control freak) is as omnipotent and omniscient as a head pit boss in Vegas, taunting and manipulating every one around him with an unsettling equanimity.

He tells Diamond, who is virtually powerless to do anything but temporarily hold the murderous Brown and his men on trivial charges, that "the busboys in his hotel" make more money than he does. Even Brown's right hand man, the hearing impaired McClure (Brian Donlevy)is mercilessly ridiculed for his second tier status.

And Brown is obsessed with his prowess with women as Diamond is with capturing him and wooing his moll. The film is filled with risque sexual allusions as wild as anything from director Sam Fuller.

In one scene, Brown manuevers around his girl, stopping briefly at her lips, but then dropping out of frame, seemingly down past her waist. And Diamond cavorts with a "burlesque" dancer (with a heart of gold, natch) who appears in a skimpy outfit that is titillating even by today's television standards.

But the most ribald bits to make it past the censors involve Brown's bickering henchmen, Fante and Mingo. Fante, played by the aquiline Lee Van Cleef, appears to be a typical hood, but midway through the film the lights come up in a bedroom where the two men have been sleeping in remarkably close quarters.

Later, sequestered in a mob-hideout, the two engage in thinly-veiled homoerotic banter that will leave you howling.

As will some of the other scenes -- torture by drum solo, a Casablanca inspired finale. Throughout the picture Brown and Diamond dance around one another sans gene, to the sound of gunshots and acid-tongued banter.

"The Big Combo" is taut, gutter entertainment, delivered in precise black and white. Even if you do watch it on DVD.

Couldn't help but notice the very similar beginning to Pulp Fiction. Tarintino shamelessly takes from other movies all the time. The boxing match, the girl being looked after by other gangsters for the boss, the girl overdose; ring a bell? Anyway, looks great and has a fantastic script. Ahead of its time in many respects. Its kind of grittier than most other genre entries of the time, but also has all the ingredients of a classic film noire.

The storyline centers about a persistent cop(Cornel Wilde)who tracks down a mobster(Richard Conte) and his henchmen (Brian Donlevy,Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman). He's helped by the gangster's girlfriend and one deputy(Robert Middleton).

The movie has likeness to noir cinema of the 40s and 50s that played Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas and Glenn Ford but here is B series.

In the film there are action, raw drama ,suspense, murders and is very interesting.

Interpretation by Cornel Wilde and Jean Wallace, marriage in real life, is magnificent, the evil racketeer Richard Conte is top notch and his underlings Donlevy, Van Cleef and Holliman are of first rate.

Cinematography by John Alton is extraordinary ,setting of lights and shades depict this type of cinema and Alton and Nicholas Musuraca are the principal photographers.

David Raskin music, being recently deceased, is nice and atmospheric.

The motion picture is well directed by Joseph H. Lewis

Rating : very good, 7,5/10. The flick will appeal to noir cinema fans. Well worth watching.

Police Lieutenant Leonard Diamond is a driven man; he has seen the Organisation grow in strength daily with Mr Brown at its head. He has seen innocents being sucked into crime by the syndicate and he has had enough. With his expenses spiralling out of control, he is put under pressure to close his investigation but his anger at Brown and his love for his girl, Susan, keeps him going. A chance discovery of a mysterious woman called Alicia starts a trail of information that offers Diamond the chance to cut off the head and kill the snake if, that is, he can stay alive long enough to do it.

Although it has been many years since I first saw this film it has stayed with me ever since, a classic crime thriller with elements of noir and some very memorable moments. The basic plot is about a crime syndicate and the cop who is trying to bring it down and this is very well done throughout. The plot is a bit of a mystery in this regard as Diamond tries to build a puzzle with most of the pieces missing but the plot is only a part of this film working as well as it does. One of the main factors making it so good is the consistently tough tone of the material that can be seen in many ways. It has all the usual stuff in the tough characters spouting quotable dialogue with the rat-a-tat-tat rhythm of a tommy gun but also has many tough scenes of brutality, my favourite being the unforgettable execution that takes place in total silence – the perfect conclusion to a scene that had been built up with such tension.

The film adds to this with elements more suited to noir than gangster movies. The "hero" is a deeply flawed man driven more by hate than righteousness, unable to get Brown's girl he turns to a low rent show girl (although it is clear that she is a prostitute) meanwhile we have corruption within the authorities hinted at – it is all nicely twisted, not quite a fully blown noir but it takes elements and blends them well to produce a superb mix. The cast match this with some great performances. Conte gets the headlines because he gets the cool character and the toughest dialogue but for me it is Wilde that makes the film his own with a convincing portrayal of a man who is driven by hate as much as love until, finding neither, he uses a "lesser" woman to satisfy his lust – only for it to sink him deeper into apparent self-loathing. He is a bit wild-eyed at times but generally he gets it spot on with a complex performance that says as much with his expressions as he does with his dialogue. Donlevy is good in a small role and the female characters are well done (for different reasons) by Wallace and Stanton. Lee Van Cleef was a surprise find in a minor role but really the film belongs to Wilde and Conte who really go to town with the chance.

Overall this is not a normal crime syndicate thriller as the title suggests, but nor is it a traditional noir. Instead it is a fine blend of the two with the best elements of each working to produce a classic crime thriller with atmospheric direction, tough dialogue, brutally memorable scenes and great performances. Complex characters and a morally ambiguous hero only helps the film's impact making this one well worth hunting down (can you believe it has only had a few hundred votes on this site? I despair.)

Cornel Wilde stars with wife Jean Wallace, Brian Donlevy, Richard Conte, Lee van Cleef, Earl Holliman, and Robert Middleton in "The Big Combo." Wilde, who was one of the producers, had the idea of turning his wife into a serious actress. She certainly was pretty. For those who may not know it, Wallace was first married to Franchot Tone, so Wilde became their children's' stepfather.

The story concerns a police detective Diamond (Wilde) who is after the head of a far-reaching mob, Mr. Brown (Conte). He's been ordered to stop investigating because he can't find any evidence and also, he is in love with Brown's girlfriend Susan (Wallace) and the department is over budget thanks to his obsession.

When Susan attempts suicide, Diamond is allowed to follow one last lead, which is the name Alicia that Susan muttered in the hospital.

Meanwhile Brown sends his thugs, Fante and Mingo (Van Cleef and Holliman) to stop Diamond. By mistake, they murder Rita, Diamond's girlfriend. Now nothing will stop Diamond until he gets his revenge.

Good noir, with Wilde in top form a a tough guy. I admit he's never been a favorite of mine - he just does not warm up the camera at all. In order to avoid the production code, the sexual scene between Diamond and Rita is cleverly managed, and there are only subtle indications that Fante and Mingo are gay lovers - less subtle once you're aware of it and watch it again.

Helen Walker plays Brown's wife, and alas, the years weren't kind to her due to her trial and bad publicity in the 1940s. Here she's in a character role. By 1968, she would be dead, at the age of 47.

Richard Conte is fantastic as Brown, cruel and mean with no redeeming qualities. He pulls it off perfectly.

Recommended - the photography throughout is excellent, but the final shot at the end is stunning.

The Big Combo may be the only film noir ever plugged on the I Love Lucy show (Cornel Wilde guest-starred in the episode which aired April 18, 1955). Coming late in the noir cycle and directed by Joseph Lewis, it seized a position as one of its most innovative and stylish titles. And, with the wizardly John Alton behind the camera, it kicks film noir's distinctive look up into another, rarefied dimension (Alton must have been emulating the Dutch Masters – spare traceries of light limn almost abstract patterns on the screen's primordial blackness).

The story, too, stays a primal one of obsession, lust and revenge. Ninety-six-fifty-a-week cop Wilde lives in a cheap flat across from a burlesque house, one of whose headliners (Helene Stanton) he occasionally `sees.' But his only passion is for nailing suave but savage crime boss Richard Conte. Iin a performance brimming with cool menace, Conte is fond of saying `First is first and second is nobody.' Wilde also harbors half-admitted fantasies of riding to the rescue of Conte's remote and unwilling mistress (Jean Wallace, Wilde's off-screen wife). Conte's so possessive that he assigns an intimate twosome of torpedoes (Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman) as her full-time bodyguards (since they're gay, he trusts them to serve as eunuchs). But when they fail to prevent her overdosing on pills, she falls into Wilde's hands at hospital and starts to babble about a woman called Alicia.

Another wild card is Conte's lieutenant Brian Donleavy, over the hill and hard of hearing, who chafes at playing second fiddle; he saw himself as heir to the organization when unseen capo Grazzi `retired' to Sicily. His grudge against his boss makes him reckless, placing the whole `combination,' or combo, in jeopardy. Wilde, meantime, has tracked down elusive Alicia, Conte's supposedly murdered wife (Helen Walker, the duplicitous psychiatrist in Nightmare Alley, in her last screen appearance); only she knows where the bodies are buried and can write her husband's death warrant....

The Big Combo counts as one of the more sadistic instalments in the cycle, but the mayhem and executions are played as big set-pieces, as flourishes; Lewis draws on Alton's full fetch of tricks (and in one memorable instance, on the sound editor's) to highlight but at the same time soften their nastiness. There's a streak of sadism in the casting, too: Both Wallace's attempted suicide and Walker's dissipation bring to mind the actresses' private troubles. Innovative and striking, The Big Combo comes as close as any film in the noir cycle to being an art-house triumph; it consolidates Lewis' reputation as an erratic director who was nonetheless capable – here, and with his Gun Crazy – of pulling off something unexpected yet extraordinary.

A very good gangster flick and evocative film-noir directed by Joseph H. Lewis. A zealous cop(Cornel Wilde) seeks the aid of a gangster's(Richard Conte) ex-girlfriend(Jean Wallace)in bringing down a crime syndicate. Conte's character is relentless as he rules his corrupt world with murder, gunplay and torture. Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman are his minions and Brian Donlevy is a handicapped mentor of sorts. Supporting cast features Helen Walker and Robert Middleton. Terrific lighting and photography make this an exceptional crime drama where shades of gray makes THE BIG COMBO a notch above the ordinary. Note:off-screen Wilde and Wallace are Mr. & Mrs.

Here is yet another gem from the forgotten noir vault. Director Joseph Lewis trades in the quasi-cinema verite style of his GUN CRAZY(1950) for strictly in-studio work and still hits the jackpot. Cinematographer John Alton works his customary chiaroscuro artistry on a fairly straightforward tale of one frustrated but determined police detective longing to collar one supremely confident crime boss.

Cornel Wilde plays the cop with stolid righteousness (although the lawman isn't above trysting with a leggy striptease artist). But the filmmakers put the main focus on the calculating yet tortured (and torturing) mobster played by Richard Conte. Conte, spitting out many of his lines with measured bile, is brilliant: a smug, know-it-all killer backed by the ever-ready menace of Lee Van Cleef and the studied goofiness of Earl Holliman. (As written, these two bring a very special dynamic to post-World War II crime melodrama). Brian Donleavy is on hand as a washed up but still scheming mob kingpin. And Jean Wallace plays the high-falutin' moll who yearns to go back to her world of piano recitals and afternoon teas but who just can't get enough of Conte's sinister mojo. This low budget but highly effective noir makes an excellent double feature with another cheap but powerful film of the genre, BEHIND LOCKED DOORS. Both films are highly recommended.

This is one of the finest of film noirs, unjustly forgotten. John Alton's black-and-white cinematography is brilliant, smoothly playing with light and darkness while dazzling our eyes. This might be Joseph Lewis' best film (it's a hard choice) and the cast is amazing. Fun to see Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman play (probably) gay hit men; Brian Donlevy in an unusual supporting role provides heft; Richard Conte is a great, great villain. And Jean Wallace is luminous in the femme-fatale-turned-good role. Catch it if you can.

Allied Artists which was Monogram Studios and mostly noted for the Bowery Boys gave us The Big Combo and they put together a stylish cast for this noir thriller. The cast is so good they cover up a lot of holes in the story.

The antagonists in this film are honest police lieutenant Cornel Wilde against ruthless syndicate chief Richard Conte. Wilde is doggedly determined to get Conte who's an article as slick as they come. His persistence reminds me a lot of Columbo without the humor.

Conte took over from a former syndicate chief who took a Johnny Torrio like 'retirement' to Sicily. Or what exactly is the real story there and who's this mysterious Alicia that throws a scare into the normally unflappable Conte?

Wilde also has a personal interest in another way as he's kind of crushing out on Jean Wallace who's Conte's main squeeze. There's a club stripper played by Carolyn Jones who's sweet on Wilde and pays for it with her life.

The Big Combo has made the list for cinema of gay interest because of the roles of Earl Holliman and Lee Van Cleef as a pair of gay trigger men who work for Conte. It's something that during the Fifties only a small studio like Allied Artists would have on screen. Today their relationship is rather obvious.

The parts are much greater than the whole and basically what Conte has done is pull a syndicate coup d'etat. But personally as the story unfolds he did a rather sloppy job in covering it up.

Rounding out the cast is syndicate banker Brian Donlevy and Wilde's police superior Robert Middleton. It's a nice noir thriller, but it should have had a much tighter story.

Cornel Wilde plays a police detective obsessed with bringing down crime lord Mr. Brown (Richard Conte), while hoping at the same time to win the affections of Conte's girl, Jean Wallace, in this tremendously atmospheric noir from 1955. The noir genre wouldn't last much longer (many contend that 1958's "Touch of Evil" is the last true noir), but it went out with a bang, giving us some of its best examples (this, "Kiss Me Deadly," "On Dangerous Ground") in its last years.

Wilde plays detective Leonard Diamond like a man coming apart at the seams. His determination to bring an end to Brown's reign feels as if it's fueled by personal motivations as much as by a sense of justice. This ambiguity in the hero's actions adds to the rotten atmosphere created by director Joseph Lewis, in which the bad guys often have more allure than the good ones. Richard Conte certainly has magnetism to spare; his monotone, machine-gun patter when belittling Diamond for being a "little man" nearly makes you forget that Wilde towers over Conte whenever they're in the frame together. And, despite his chauvinist treatment of her, one can understand why Jean Wallace's character would be drawn against her will to the more virile Conte than to the "impotent" Wilde.

Indeed, the question of manhood -- who has it and who doesn't -- is central to "The Big Combo." It's a theme common to the genre, but is given one of its most overt treatments here. In this twisted world, the ability to inflict pain -- be it mental, emotional, physical or sexual -- is a measure of one's ability to "be a man" and make it in the world. Those who aren't man enough, like Mr. Brown's gay henchmen or right-hand man, McClure (played with just the right amount of vulnerability by Brian Donlevy), are destroyed.

"The Big Combo" boasts arresting black and white images, and a number of thrillingly memorable set pieces (let's just say that imaginative and recurring use is made of a hearing aid). It doesn't beat its kissing cousin from the same year, "Kiss Me Deadly," in my book, but it's an awfully fun ride.

Grade: A

Having mostly enjoyed Cornel Wilde films, I was anxious to catch up with this rarely screened title. While it kept my interest throughout, I was surprised that by the end, I did not want to keep my recording.

Following a nice main title, the film gets off to an interesting start, but this actually promises more than it delivers. The great 40's noir films had tight pacing, sharp dialog and a multi layered look and feel ~ all this is lacking here. Obviously the producers recognized this, as they themselves dropped scenes from the final cut. Whit Bisel remains on the cast, but not in the film! Even with some segments reduced the film feels much longer than it's 80+ Min's running time. I quite like slow films, but they should never feel longer than they are, and must have strong lines and situations.

Its a good time filler, but don't think it will stay with too many after it's over. Wildes wife Jean Wallace is lovely to look at in the Grace Kelly school of cool blonds. The Black and White print I caught on local ABC TV was very good quality (far better than many of the soft image, and poor quality sound prints pushed out on TCM!~ when will they get it right?)

Many have mentioned enjoying the films use of light and shadow, but this too is obvious and forced, looking more like cheap TV lighting, not the true 'style' of great cinema. The cast tries hard but the lines are just not there for them (substitutes violence for good dialog) OK for the easily pleased, others, don't expect too much. A decade later Wilds 'Naked Prey' while a total departure, is a far better effort.

This 1955, b&w, crime-drama had both its good points, as well as its not-so-good points.

Its best point, by far, was its overall look which consisted of many scenes shot in shadowy, partially-lit spaces. This welcome effect often gave the story a more menacing feel to it, beyond what was generally conveyed by the actions of the characters.

As well as The Big Combo having its fair share of impressive camera-work to its credit, it also contained plenty of unintentional humour in a story that clearly took itself way too seriously for its own good.

But, on the other hand - What almost ruined this picture for me was the hideously annoying performance of actress Jean Wallace who played the clueless, blond, gangster's moll, Susan Lowell. Believe me, this woman's portrayal really grated on my nerves, big-time.

Anyway - For the most part, The Big Combo was OK entertainment as far as 1950's crime-dramas go.

I titled this with a quote, and there are many such lines throughout; this somehow manages to be a bleak noir with almost Shakespearean overtones, inky black shadows, completely dark in places but shining with memorable silhouettes and unique scenes seen nowhere else. It blends the mundane with the profound in such a skillful way that there is no seam between the two. It packs into its running time the amount a TV series might pack into a full season in terms of dramatic events and turns of event. The cinematography recalls classical painting here and there at a time when the most gruesome exchanges and terrible things are happening. There are reversals and reversals of reversals - but without becoming convoluted. This is a battle of wills between men and equally a battle of women - and of justice - so exquisitely weaving the personal with the universal. And what of the plot - no spoilers but the Big Combo is a criminal organisation swimming in cash while the investigations of the police deplete their budget with zero arrests to show for it - such is the untouchable mastermind at the centre of it. There are moving scenes - and truly shocking scenes - as well as scenes of intelligently scripted moments of intimacy - plus shootouts - all you need - a noir top 10 movie for sure.

A solid entry in the film noir genre.

The major players all do a grand job but keep an eye peeled for John Hoyt as antique shop proprietor Nils Dryer. I always enjoyed this much underrated and sadly over looked actor. The psychological warfare that unfolds between Cornel Wilde as the dedicated but under paid cop and Richard Conte as the thoroughly repulsive hoodlum kingpin 'Mr Brown' makes for an interesting character study.

The title theme of this movie is just SO "Big City U.S.A" circa 1950s and very evocative of the era.

Seems to have got lost in the system over the years. Make it your business to find a copy and you won't be disappointed. A bone fide gold medalist in the film noir race.

"The Big Combo" is a lesser-known late noir masterpiece--after trying to finish watching it for nearly two years, I just now got done seeing it finally. And I was glad I did. (Every time I started watching in the past, something or other would come up and I'd never get around to it again--nothing to do with the movie though, as I always found the beginning super intriguing.)

So the beginning: we start with the mob boss's girl, Susan and her attempt to go out/leave on her own. We find out that Brown--the mob boss--likes to keep an eye on her at all times. Seeing her, I wouldn't blame him. She is a looker indeed--but in a robust, kind of able-bodied way--played to a T by Jean Wallace. Wallace is emblematic of the movie in many ways--not big-budget, not super iconic, not well known enough--but that is her and the movie's charm. While better known actresses and movies tend to have smoother operations attached to them-including co-stars and movie sets, both the female lead here and the movie are much more modest. In other words, Jean Wallace is stunning but no Audrey Hepburn--thankfully so. I am sick and tired of watching pencil-thin leading ladies on film. Jean Wallace--and other women in the movie--have hips and shoulders and it was so nice to see that.

Anyway, the movie has many memorable scenes, some of them brutal--including a murder scene of total silence--that at no moment do we feel like we're watching anything extraneous or unnecessary. A nearly pitch-perfect noir.

Cornel Wilde is Lieutenant Diamond, trying to get the goods on a mob boss. his boss comes down on him for spending so much money and coming up with so little. Brown the mobster (Richard Conte, probably best known for Godfather) is cruel, but he's also very smart and doesn't keep books around to be found. so Diamond goes after the girlfriend (played by Jean Wallace) when she ends up in the hospital. it's good. very serious police drama, as Diamond tries to get the goods on Brown. they have him hooked up to a lie detector, which would never be allowed today. wikipedia tells us that as early as the 1970s, there was serious doubt as to the accuracy of using a polygraph. directed by Joe Lewis, who worked at all the various studios. Wilde was nominated for his bio on Chopin about ten years before this. and he also happened to be married to co-star Jean Wallace for thirty years! they made tons of things together over the years.

If Film Noir movies were judged solely by the proliferation of night-time urban settings, use of chiaroscuro lighting and figures viewed in silhouette enshrouded by mist then 'Combo' would be the Rolls Royce of the genre. I can barely recollect a scene occurring in natural daylight and it's unlikely that sunstroke was a topic of conversation during coffee breaks.

As matters stand, this film is a corker from the moment David Raksin's stylish, sinuous jazz score kicks in over the opening credits to the aircraft hangar finale. Gritty, abrasive, violent and utterly compelling !

Racketeer Richard Conte has corruptly collected a colossal cache of cash, ably assisted by a bunch of sadistic henchmen eager to keep him happy. Suave and sophisticated on the surface, but smug, condescending and patronizing in his dealings with police lieutenant Cornel Wilde. Always one step ahead and exploiting any legal loophole to keep Wilde, who he dismisses as Small Change, at bay.

Though on opposite sides of the law , the two men have much in common. Conte's flamboyance contrasts with Wilde's flintiness, but both are driven, determined and volatile. Of greater significance, both are in love with the same woman (Jean Wallace).

Ultimately the plot hinges upon an unsolved murder from almost a decade earlier, which took place on a yacht belonging to Conte's business partner. Conte, for his part had little use for a boat. With such a monumental fortune, he could put to sea aboard his wallet !

As the story unfolds one is left with an impending sense that only one destiny awaits a man whose life has been built on avarice and impropriety.

By the movie's end I felt an affinity with Wilde, not that I make a habit of drinking hair tonic ! Like him, however, I have never been a fan of jazz albums that feature long, indulgent drum solos.

Coda: 'The Big Combo' marked the final film appearance by the lovely, but ill-fated Helen Walker.

There really should be a deluxe DVD box-set of films with "The Big" in their titles -- preferably "The Big" followed by one more word.

Naturally, you would have to have Howard Hawks' "The Big Sleep" from 1946 and Fritz Lang's "The Big Heat" from 1953.

If I wanted to attract hate mail, I could probably also insist on including two David Nelson circus films, particularly 1959's "The Big Circus," but also the rather overlooked "The Big Show" from 1961.

From 1955 alone you could come up with Robert Aldrich's "The Big Knife" and Joseph H. Lewis' s "The Big Combo."

"The Big Combo" is an unusually good film noir with more of the chiaroscuro lighting effects than you get in some other more famous noir classics and way more than you get in the archetypal David Nelson circus film.

You also get a gay couple -- very unusual for a 1955 Hollywood film! Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman play two thugs named Fante and Mingo, who work for bigger thug Richard Conte. Some classic Hollywood films, as reported in Vito Russo's "The Celluloid Closet," have some fairly specific gay content, but some of them only have the reputation and not much content. However, it's really there in "The Big Combo." Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman live together, slay together, and apparently love each other. Watch the basement hideout scene near the climax. They caress each other! It's the most believable relationship in a very brutal and fascinating movie.