THE BIG COMBO (1955)

WORLD PREMIERE RESTORATION

With Joseph H. Lewis directing and John Alton in charge of cinematography, this guarantees one of the most vividly shot of all film noirs, a symphony in chiaroscuro in this world premiere restoration. Star Cornel Wilde’s Theodora Productions co-produced with screenwriter Philip Yordan’s Security Pictures, and they’re both at the top of their game. Wilde is a police detective trying to get the goods on Richard Conte, a new breed of criminal who keeps his hands clean and his books dirty. He’s also in love with Conte’s mistress (Wilde’s off-screen wife Jean Wallace). Yordan’s script is filled with punchy lines like “You can’t tell a jury a man’s guilty because he’s too innocent,” and contained multiple levels of overt and implied adult sexuality. Conte and Wallace have a love scene that had censors in a tizzy, while Conte’s two gunmen, Lee Van Cleef and Earl Holliman, seem to be more than just colleagues.

d. Joseph H. Lewis, 88m, DCP
DCP courtesy of Ignite Films. Photochemical Restoration created by the UCLA Film and Television Archive with funding from The Film Foundation. Digital restoration by The Grainery, Los Angeles.

We regret the following will no longer attend as previously announced: Rosie Perez