Trailer
Plot summary
Police Lieutenant Leonard Diamond of the 93rd Precinct has spent four years on the gangster Mr. Brown and has come up with no hard evidence, while the inquiry goes over budget. Detective Sam Hill works the case beside him. Captain Peterson orders the investigation closed, telling Diamond that the interest has become personal: Diamond is in love with Susan Lowell, Brown's girlfriend, who is despondent and unable to break away from Brown. Diamond asks to chase one last thread, the identity of a woman known only as Alicia, who is tied to Brown. Brown is angered by the inquiry and sets Joe McClure, Fante and Mingo against Diamond.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Big Combo (1955)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Although The Big Combo's title cards carry a copyright claim, no notice was properly filed, and in 2007 the United States Copyright Office rejected the claim, leaving the film in the public domain.
- Jack Palance was originally cast opposite Cornel Wilde but dropped out, asking for a week off after finishing The Silver Chalice (1954) with Virginia Mayo and Paul Newman, and unhappy that his wife was not cast in the second female lead; Richard Conte replaced him, pushing back the start of Cry Vengeance.
- The airport scene in The Big Combo is considered one of the most iconic images in film history, and the film inspired the torture scene in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992).
- The Big Combo marked the end of actress Helen Walker's film career; she was given a small but pivotal role in it.
