The Big Combo

Directed by Joseph H. Lewis, The Big Combo follows obsessive cop Leonard Diamond (Cornel Wilde) as he goes to increasingly desperate lengths to take down a slick (and deadly) crime boss (Richard Conte’s Mr. Brown) – with the situation complicated by the fact that Wilde’s character has fallen for his nemesis’ girl (Jean Wallace’s Susan). It’s a compelling, promising setup that’s employed to mostly watchable yet undeniably erratic effect by Lewis, and it’s clear, ultimately, that the movie is at its best in its exciting first and third acts – as Lewis, working from a script by Philip Yordan, does a superb job of suffusing that portion of the proceedings with a stylish, captivating sensibility. (There’s little doubt, as well, that The Big Combo benefits substantially from the top-flight work of its various performers, with, especially, Conte offering up a menacing and often hypnotic turn as the irresistibly smug villain.) The picture’s distressingly uninvolving midsection, then, threatens to render its myriad of positive attributes moot, as Lewis emphasizes Diamond’s investigation to a progressively oppressive degree and it is, to an increasingly demonstrable extent, difficult to work up any real interest in or enthusiasm for Diamond’s procedural-like exploits. Such concerns are instantly forgotten once The Big Combo charges into its comparatively enthralling final stretch, with the presence of several stand-out sequences, including a tense, brutal execution scene, and a solid conclusion finally cementing the movie’s place as a hit-and-miss film noir that just barely squeaks by.

**1/2 out of ****