With Brian Donlevey, Cornel Wilde and Richard Conte and the iconic noir shadings of John Alton "The Big Combo" is widely held as one of the best of the genre's films this late in the noir cycle. An obsessive police detective (Donlevey) bucks departmental policy to focus an investigation of mob kingpin Conte. Long before Jack Bauer would strap Arab type people to the chair, these "enhanced techniques" were used on Wilde. They blast his eardrums with loud drum music delivered via Donlevy's hearing aid, (it looks like a forerunner of today's "earbuds"), force him to drink hair tonic and beat the crap out of him, suggesting that he lay off the case. Of course this only increases the resolve of our noble protagonist as he searches for the key piece of evidence that will put his nemesis behind bars.
The is a no holds barred, tough picture. At the time the producers pushed the violence envelope further than any mainstream film before it even causing common taters to bemoan the state of modern entertainment. Even now after "The Sopranos" and "The Godfather" this tale seems especially brutal and the audiences are the better for it. Strongly recommended.
The is a no holds barred, tough picture. At the time the producers pushed the violence envelope further than any mainstream film before it even causing common taters to bemoan the state of modern entertainment. Even now after "The Sopranos" and "The Godfather" this tale seems especially brutal and the audiences are the better for it. Strongly recommended.