Genio del crimen

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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.