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First of all, Gloria Graham should have been a bigger star, a la Marilyn. She's really got it – sexy, knowing, witty, touching. In the Big Heat, she plays the anti-femme fatale, who does an unexpected evil act to help the hero rather than hurt him. Pretty unusual twist in a noir.Glenn Ford is a very limited actor, but he works perfectly in the narrow range of this role.While the film starts slow, what makes it work better than most noirs is how it deals with the multi-level complicity of ordinary people in evil, people just going along to get along, and one man going up against that (assisted by the old crippled woman who risks her life to give him a key tip). It's quite moving and timely, given what's going on in America today.My favorite line is when the young, stupid hit man asks Lee Marvin to tell him when he plans to dump Gloria Graham. Why does he want to know. "I'm a rebound man," he says. Perfect. I realize there's a whole genre of rebound men in real life. My former roommate was one.Does anyone know what city the story takes place in? I thought at times New York, but then at the end someone mentions South Street, so I thought it might be Philadelphia.
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