I’ve always said that sometimes only film noir will do. That post-War black & white cinema of existential dread, a landscape of shadowy city streets; seedy bars; and smoke-filled cop precincts. A nighttime universe populated with dangerous dudes and devious dames. But what I find so much fun in these movies is the snappy, hard-boiled dialogue not to mention the inventive and dramatically moody cinematography. This came to mind when I got the new 4K UHD Blu-ray from Ignite Films of The Big Combo, one of my all-time favorites and with the most expressionistic of black and white cinematography care of the great John Alton.
The Big Combo was actor Cornel Wilde’s first film for his “Theodora Productions” company and he pulled together an exceptional “combo” of artists for the film. Maverick director Joseph H. Lewis, who always had a wildly creative way with movies made on a limited budget. Just the scene in Gun Crazy– a bank robbery shot from the back seat of the car- still thrills. There is the master director of photography- John Alton, who painted with light in black & white films. Or screenwriter Philip Yordan, a bit of slippery character (who occasionally leant his name to scripts actually written by blacklisted writers) who riddled the movie with sharp, sardonic dialogue. Then there’s the terrific jazz score by David Raksin, whose theme for the movie Laura was just as unforgettable.
In the film, Cornel Wilde plays detective Leonard Diamond, who has been obsessively trying to nail mobster kingpin Mr. Brown (Richard Conte). He also has been following Brown’s fragile, disturbed girlfriend Susan Lowell (played by Wilde’s beautiful wife Jean Wallace). Even Diamond’s boss thinks he’s in love with Susan Lowell, even though he has never even met her in person. But it’s the peripheral characters that really resonate in the film. Like Brian Donlevy who plays Brown’s former boss Joe McClure, now forced to do Brown’s evil bidding. In the film Donlevy wears a hearing aid which is used later to torture detective Diamond (by blasting jazz into his ear with it. Afterwards they pour hair tonic down his throat). There is Diamond’s sort-of girlfriend Rita (Helene Stanton), a sexy showgirl with a weary understanding of her complicated relationship with the detective. And then there is Brown’s two hitmen- Fante (Lee Van Cleef) and Mingo (Earl Holliman). As the film goes on it becomes abundantly clear that these ruthless killers are in some sort of relationship (Earl Holliman is always looking with puppy-dog eyes at Lee Van Cleef). They even sleep in the same bedroom. In single beds, like Lucy and Ricky Ricardo.
Now the movie was at the near end of the film noir cycle. There was Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil and Robert Aldrich’s Kiss Me Deadly on the horizon to blast “noir” into new territory. But The Big Combo still manages to dazzle and disturb with its neurotic undercurrents, startling sadism and surprising sensuality (a scene where Richard Conte’s Mr. Brown slides down behind Susan as if to pleasure her is one big miss for the film censors at the time). It also helps explain this twisted hold he has over her. The film is pulp poetry.
This incredible 4K restoration is right up there with the other amazing Ignite Films release of Invaders from Mars. The restoration was undertaken from working with a 35mm fine grain answer print and a 35mm optical sound negative. It was restored in 4K by The Grainery, while the audio was sourced from a UCLA restoration funded by The Film Foundation. It is to die for. The bonus feature includes new audio commentary by film historian Sara Imogen Smith, also audio commentary by Eddie Muller, founder of the Film Noir Foundation and an interview with critic and author Philippe Garnier. There are three different versions you can purchase and I opted for the steelbook 3-disc one which also includes a gorgeous restoration of The Crooked Way (1949), a fast and furious film noir starring John Payne as a war veteran with shrapnel in his skull, who has no memory of his former life. He heads to Los Angeles (his only clue) only to discover he is mixed up with some nefarious mob characters and has an ex-wife (fabulous Ellen Drew) who has a good reason to hate him. This was expertly directed by Robert Florey (The Beast with Five Fingers), and the director of cinematography is- you guessed it- John Alton.
Author Eddie Muller, who has made his career studying film noir, says it best in the introduction included in a booklet that comes with the Blu-ray. “Is The Big Combo a great film? Opinions will vary. Is The Big Combo great filmmaking? Unquestionably. Thanks to this new digital restoration, the evidence is more vivid than ever. The Big Combo is a thrilling example of how creative artists (with or without diplomas) can take scraps left over from dozens of movies and concoct a fresh cinematic potboiler that, 70 years later, is still hearty, flavorful, and completely satisfying.”
