The Big Combo

The Big Combo (1954, Security Pictures) Directed by Joseph H. Lewis, shot by the amazing John Alton, and starring Cornell Wilde, Richard Conte, Brian Donleavy, Jean Wallace, Earl Holliman, Lee Van Cleef, Whit Bissell and a host of other habitual noir habitues, The Big Combo may be the most underrated flick ever. An absolutely brutal story of one detective's obsessive pursuit of a sadistic mobster named Mr. Brown is also among the most inkily beautiful noirs ever put to film. The script is tight and the performances are as understated as they are outrageous. And Alton is once again pouring the ink and shedding the light. If you haven't seen this one, do yourself a favor and pick it up. It's one of the greatest noirs ever made.