Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The Big Combo (1955)

Plot: A police detective (Wilde) is obsessed with bringing a suave, and seemingly invulnerable crime boss (Conte) to justice - the gangster's girlfriend may be the weak link.

Stars: Richard Conte, Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace, Brian Donlevy

Enjoyable but over-praised Film Noir. The plot is pretty standard but with an 84 minute run time that's not a problem. More problematic is the bland Cornel Wilde and the 2 wooden female performances. The action scenes are mixed. A couple are well done, others are almost unintentionally funny. Anyone want a pineapple in a box?

Pluses: A great jazz score and some beautiful B&W cinematography. Also, Earl Holliman and Lee Van Cleef are memorable as the Gay(?) henchmen. Conte is fabulous as the ruthless "Mr. Brown".

Summary: Another "cult film" that leaves me puzzled. I liked it, but its no better than 30 other film-noirs. Rating: ***

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