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The Big Combo

Play trailer Poster for The Big Combo 1955 1h 29m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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93% Tomatometer 14 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Film noir about a police lieutenant who comes under pressure from a gang headed by a vicious thug. He is helped by the gangster's wife, jealous at her husband's affair with another woman, who supplies him with information to help him close the net on his foe.
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The Big Combo

Critics Reviews

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Keith Phipps The Dissolve 10/14/2013
4/5
Noir wasn't new in 1955, but The Big Combo still found plenty of life within its limits. Go to Full Review
Variety Staff Variety 01/25/2008
It is done with grim melodramatics that are hard-hitting despite a rambling, not-too-credible plot, and is cut out to order for the meller fan who likes his action rough and raw. Go to Full Review
Dave Kehr Chicago Reader 01/25/2008
Where the usual noir takes place in a nightmare world, this one seems to inhabit a dream: there's no longer fear in the images, but rather a distanced, idealized beauty. Go to Full Review
David Nusair Reel Film Reviews 12/18/2020
2.5/4
...a compelling, promising setup that's employed to mostly watchable yet undeniably erratic effect... Go to Full Review
Fernando F. Croce CinePassion 10/17/2009
A pond of shifting alliances and kinks Go to Full Review
TV Guide 01/25/2008
3/4
A fatalistic symphony of light and shade. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Mark H @Zeppo Oct 18 Broken and damaged cast inflict betrayal, mayhem and misery on everyone around them, the pedestrian plot being rather beside the point. After all, we are all alone, aren't we? See more JJJJJJ J 04/16/2023 Underrated noir that deserves more attention. The film played with some really interesting themes that both worked for the genre but also kept the movie engaging. The character creations was quite good and though most fell into cliche categories they also felt unique and individual. There were some really good one liners in this movie as well. I would recommend this film to any fans of the genre. See more deke p 05/28/2021 1955! Film Noir. Great cast. Love the Cornell. And that blonde was freshfaced and glookn! Never heard of before saw on tv 5.2021. And by amazing coincidence, just this morning I had The BIG COMBO at Taco Bell. What are the odds. See more Jessica C 01/29/2021 It's a nice film noir but nothing too special. Helped me pass the time though! See more 08/02/2020 Better than big combo Blobbo order from Wendy's. See more paul d @PaulusLoZebra 06/24/2020 The Big Combo is a great noir crime drama and one of the best "B movies" I've seen. Joseph H. Lewis crafted an engrossing film, and deserves credit on many fronts. With a great economy of style, his scene transitions leave no time for our minds to wander. He also keeps us focused on on-screen details with some fleeting and audacious material for 1955, hinting at a homosexual relationship between Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman and showing the beginning of a particularly overt sexual moment between Richard Conte and Jean Wallace. Lewis and the producers also deserve great credit for assembling such an impressive number of recognizable and skilled actors in a B film: Cornell Wilde, Richard Conte, Brian Donleavy, Lee Van Cleef, Robert Middleton, Earl Holliman,Ted de Corsia, Jay Adler, Phil Van Zandt and John Hoyt. Aside from a wooden performance from model-turned-actress Wallace, each of them developed their characters well, and quickly. We are treated to a very fine Richard Conte playing to perfection (and to type) a suave and cold-blooded bad guy. Ted de Corsia, with only five minutes of screen time, leaves us feeling like we know everything about his character. And how did they convince tough-guy Brian Donlevy to agree to a role against type, where he plays a defeated and humiliated man who's still in the crime business because that's the only business he knows? Donlevy pulls this off with grace and subtlety. See more Read all reviews
The Big Combo

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Movie Info

Synopsis Film noir about a police lieutenant who comes under pressure from a gang headed by a vicious thug. He is helped by the gangster's wife, jealous at her husband's affair with another woman, who supplies him with information to help him close the net on his foe.
Director
Joseph H. Lewis
Producer
Sidney Harmon
Screenwriter
Philip Yordan
Distributor
Allied Artists Pictures
Production Co
Allied Artists
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 13, 1955, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 10, 2016
Runtime
1h 29m
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