In the German Lang-in Dr. Mabuse, The Spies, M-one can't tell the cops from therobbers, and Lang was no less cynical in his Hollywood noirs. In The BigHeat, Glenn Ford gives a fine performance of inward obsession as apolice detective who engages in a crusade against organized crime andpolice corruption after his wife is killed by a car bomb. Gloria Grahameintelligently develops the two sides of the bad girl, who takes Ford'spart and then pays for it with hot coffee disfiguring her face (rather,half of it). Few films of the fifties or any period are more ruthlessand uncompromising in their observation of violence in American society.Yet, as in Lang classics such as M, this violence is portrayed morethrough suggestion, achieving a powerful impact. "In thisway," Lang has said, "I force the audience to become acollaborator of mine."