Not much done, today. I got lost in Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pushing my progressive agenda -- holding that orange POS, #45, accountable for his crimes; defending Ukraine against the Russian bots out to help destroy her; cheered on others who are fighting back against the right wing nut jobs; just the usual stuff that really doesn't mean much.
I did watch The Big Heat (1953) for the first time in decades...and was really disappointed. It was directed by Fritz Lang, who made Metropolis and M in Germany then Fury in the US, but it was nowhere near as intense as any of those movies...except in spots.
It's about a cop investigating corruption in his city and how he runs up against crooks who own most of the city council. His wife is killed in a bomb meant for him and he goes off the rails to find the killers. It's got Gloria Graham as a gangster's moll and Lee Marvin as the gangster. This is the one with the infamous coffee scene.
I used to think that was on the overblown side. No one I knew let their coffee get that hot. But then McDonald's served coffee so hot it gave a woman 3rd degree burns through three layers of clothing. That shut me up.
What startled me about the film is that it didn't feel well-thought-out. It was lazy in its storytelling and direction, almost perfunctory. The camera set-ups plain and simple, nothing interesting to add to the tension. Glenn Ford was the cop and he seemed unable to understand who his character was. I honestly think he was miscast (maybe Dana Andrews would have been better), but Lang didn't do much to help him. Didn't do much to put his signature on the piece.
It got me to thinking about a movie made 2 years later, by William Wyler -- The Desperate Hours. About a family held hostage by some prison escapees and how the cops are slowly closing in on them, putting the family in greater danger. Frederick March and Humphrey Bogart were in that, so some pretty heavy-hitters. That film was non-stop tension and polished beyond belief. Didn't feel cheap or half-assed, at all.
It's almost sad to see Fritz Lang just going through the motions.
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