The Big Heat

(Fritz Lang, US 1953, 90 min., 35mm)

The Tarnished Badge. After his wife’s murder at the hands of the mob, honest cop Glenn Ford seeks revenge and will stop at nothing to get it. Set in an urban landscape of “dice, vice, and corruption” and shot in a stark, efficient style to match the grim worldview of its protagonist, this tough noir was a forerunner to the violent crime dramas of the 1970s. Brace yourself for young Lee Marvin’s infamous coffee-hurling scene.