- In Joseph H. Lewis' The Big Combo, every room is dimly lit and every night is foggy. The film is one of the most quintessential noirs I've ever seen and, naturally, also one of the most enjoyable. Much of the film's greatness is attributable to the wonderfully darkened cinematography, shaded settings, and jazzy score. The rest is probably due to Richard Conte, who gives a career-defining performance as a diabolical ganglord named Mr. Brown.
- Mr. Brown's motto is simple: "First is first and second is nobody." He yells it into the hearing aid of Joe McClure (Brian Donlevy), the man who used to be his boss. He slaps it into a boxer who can't seem to win a fight. And most of all, he shouts it at Police Lieutenant Leonard Diamond (Cornel Wilde), the "$96.50 a week" cop who's made it his mission to arrest Brown at literally any cost. So why is Diamond so obsessed with catching Brown? The lieutenant would probably tell you that it was because of those kids who end up committing murder all "because a certain Mr. Brown picked up a phone." Everybody else knows that it has a lot to do with Brown's mistress, Susan Lowell (Jean Wallace).
- As described, The Big Combo might sound more like a police procedural than a great noir, but there are plenty of fascinating undercurrents lurking just beneath the surface of this film. For one, there's the fact that Diamond is completely in love with a woman who doesn't know him. I don't mean that she doesn't know him well -- their first shared scene makes it completely clear that Susan has never met Diamond...but he certainly knows a lot about her. And then there's the interesting case of Mr. Brown's first wife (Helen Walker). Maybe she's tied to an anchor at the bottom of the ocean, maybe she's run off to Italy with the former head of the cartel, maybe she's tucked away in an asylum someplace, who knows? And finally, there's that charismatic set of thugs (Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman) who are obviously in love with each other, even though the Hays code would never allow that to be said out loud. They're almost as devoted to Mr. Brown as they are to each other, and he repays their allegiance with a stick of dynamite. It's only in the film's terrific finale that the world finally gets to shine a light on Mr. Brown. That's the best way to stop a noir villain and a great way to end a wonderful movie.
