on 4/30/2026, 7:28 am
It's possible that readers will want to figure out whether it was Chuck Bowen or Derek Smith who wrote this paragraph in their "Mingo and Fante-seque" review of the restored print of THE BIG COMBO:
In just a few seconds we understand once again why so many women go for the bad boy, and the answer is what we always suspected: They’re better in the sack. One doesn’t get the impression that the relentlessly tight-assed Diamond could inspire such a moan of anguished, guilty satisfaction, but, then again, who knows? Diamond clearly has his own kinks: He carries on his own clandestine affairs with women of the night, only voicing superficial sentiments of remorse, and, as The Big Combo bluntly states, his quest to take Brown down has a lot to do with his understandably considerable sexual feelings for the gorgeous Susan.
It's a strange review, to be sure...one that would surely have been better had it dug deeper into the film itself, as was the case in Glenn Erickson's fine review of the Olive Films 2013 blu-ray, which can be read in its entirety here:
https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s4309comb.html
For those who don't wish to click, here is a fine excerpt:
Take a step back from The Big Combo and its storyline is almost generic: the all-important difference is its fascinating style. There are plenty of 'normal' scenes, but at least half of the action is set in darkened corridors and rooms where little is visible beyond the actors. The genius behind Combo's stunning look is the legendary cameraman John Alton, whose career ranged from MGM's glossy musical An American in Paris to the early crime films of Anthony Mann. The "pure light and dark" of Alton's lighting creates much of the film's drama. Val Lewton's RKO film unit famously introduced the idea of suggesting menace instead of showing it directly, but Alton helps Lewis suggest entire settings without showing them. John Alton has a knack for using highly stylized pools of illumination and weird light sources, yet still maintaining a semi-realistic frame of reference.
The underworld pictured is never abstract, but its effects are tangible. While fleeing her sinister guardians Fante & Mingo at a boxing arena, Susan dashes through a series of stark spotlights that emphasize her figure and bare shoulders. When the hoodlums finally catch up with her in medium-shot, Alton's selective lighting makes the breathless Susan look naked, held between them. Actors clearly had to hit their marks in this picture. In the darker setups a human figure can't walk three paces without passing through three different lighting setups. Yet the lighting never sticks out as ostentatious--we instead feel the dramatic effect Alton is creating.
Writers love The Big Combo because it exemplifies the visual extremes of film noir, which is actually a style and not a genre. Like Joseph H. Lewis' Gun Crazy, it is a key exemplar of a key theme of noir, an erotic obsession so powerful that it dominates everything. Lieutenant Diamond is a plainly sick man, and his pathological pursuit of the criminal villain is motivated more by sheer hatred and jealousy than any notion of law and order. Bad guy Mr. Brown spouts tough dialog. His favorite expression is, "First is first and second is nobody!," a mantra that he seeks to embody. Brown browbeats everyone in the cast, yet it is clear that his love for the suicidal trophy-trollop Susan is more tender than anything Diamond has to offer. The unyielding, humorless Diamond is just as callous than his nemesis, as seen when he thoughtlessly allows his faithful girlfriend to walk unknowingly into danger. Diamond's so-called growing love for Susan plays like possessive harassment; he shows far less fondness for her than does her 'tormentor' Brown.
True as far as it goes, but what actually happens in THE BIG COMBO is that the factors that Mingo and Fante--er, Bowen and Smith--and Erickson describe are slowlp undercut in the ensuing action--Brown's campaigns of violence escalate, and Diamond learns that his vendetta has the potential for serious collateral damage. The bracing notion that cops and criminals are really two peas in the same pod, which fuels the film throughout its dank, lubricious first half, gives way to a more standard "search for a villain's Achilles heel" as the film moves into fourth gear for its bravura closing set-piece.
I doubt that any of the folk involved in the overkill of commentary provided for the Incite Films UHD version of THE BIG COMBO will see it that way...and its strange that the company decided to bundle another film (THE CROOKED WAY) into the package. Yes, it's another John Alton-lensed noir, but why it doesn't simply get its own release is rather baffling...and all the different releases are just as confounding:
• Premium Steel Book – New Artwork (Limited Edition, with slipcover)
Premium Steel Case featuring exclusive newly commissioned artwork. Includes a 3-disc set (UHD + 2 Blu-rays), a specially curated booklet, 5 lobby cards, and the complete bonus feature collection.
UHD Disc: The Big Combo + all newly produced extras
Blu-ray Disc 1: The Big Combo + all newly produced extras
Blu-ray Disc 2: Legacy extras + The Crooked Way
• Premium Vintage Steel Book – Original Poster (Limited Edition, with slipcover)
Premium Vintage Steel Case featuring original poster artwork. Includes a 3-disc set (UHD + 2 Blu-rays), a specially curated booklet, 5 lobby cards, and the complete bonus feature collection.
UHD Disc: The Big Combo + all newly produced extras
Blu-ray Disc 1: The Big Combo + all newly produced extras
Blu-ray Disc 2: Legacy extras + The Crooked Way
• 4K UHD Standard Edition (Reversible Artwork, with Slipcover)
A 2-disc UHD + Blu-ray set presenting the complete 4K restoration, newly produced bonus features, and a specially curated booklet.
UHD Disc: The Big Combo + all newly produced extras
Blu-ray Disc: Legacy extras + The Crooked Way
• Blu-ray Standard Edition (Reversible Artwork, with Slipcover)
A 2-disc HD Blu-ray set presenting the complete restoration, a specially curated booklet, 5 lobby cards, and the complete bonus feature collection.
Blu-ray Disc 1: The Big Combo + all newly produced extras
Blu-ray Disc 2: Legacy extras + The Crooked Way
Languages: English, German, Latin Spanish
Subtitles: English, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, French, Dutch, Portuguese
Region: All discs region free (UHD + Blu-rays)
Restoration:
This digital restoration of The Big Combo was undertaken by Ignite Films, working from a 35mm Fine Grain Answer Print and a 35mm Optical Sound Negative. The picture was restored in 4K by The Grainery, while the audio was sourced from an UCLA restoration funded by The Film Foundation. The color grading was carried out by Gosia Grzyb under the supervision and approval of Scott MacQueen.
Newly Produced Bonus Features:
New Audio Commentary with acclaimed film historian and noir expert Imogen Sara Smith.
New Interview with celebrated author and critic Philippe Garnier.
How a Guy Makes a Living — How a Little Combo Made The Big Combo: New video essay by Scout Tafoya.
The Crooked Way (1949) – Another brutal noir with spectacular expressionistic cinematography by John Alton with unfiltered filming on the 1940s post-war streets of Los Angeles.
Legacy Bonus Features:
Audio Commentary with Eddie Muller, the “Czar of Noir” and founder of the Film Noir Foundation.
Geoff Andrew, respected critic and curator, on The Big Combo.
Wagon Wheel Joe: A fascinating video appreciation of Lewis’s dynamic camerawork and recurring motifs, tracing his evolution from B-movie craftsman to master stylist.
Booklet:
Art in a Boiling Pot: New written introduction by Eddie Muller.
Commissioned essays by Ben Sachs, Alonso Duralde, Katie Stebbins, Scout Tafoya, and Garrett Clayton.
Perhaps Ignite Films should have called this the "Overkill Edition" of THE BIG COMBO. Consumers are advised to pick up the standard edition at its reasonable price, and compare the new transfer to the one in the 2013 Olive blu-ray that was glowiingly described by Erickson in his review:
Olive Films' Blu-ray of The Big Combo is a stunning HD transfer at a proper widescreen aspect ratio, and looks far better than the weak videos and flat 16mm prints that once circulated. Quite a few white speckles crop up near reel changes, along with more bits of dirt than we expect, but the transfer reflects the fine qualities of John Alton's cinematography. Jean Wallace seems to glow, as if her blonde hair were lit from within; the atmospheric chiaroscuro setups are really impressive. One early shot of Diamond's assistant Sam Hill (Jay Adler) at a boxing ring concession stand looks exactly like something from the brush of Edward Hopper
At some point we'll revisit this to assess just how much added value accrues from the new extras...stay tuned!
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