User Reviews

Humphrey Bogart portrays three time convict Joseph "Duke" Berne, with twenty years of prison time under his belt. But he's running gun shy now, as the next offense will put him away for life. When former cohorts show up planning an armored car heist, the Duke is in, until he runs into former flame Lorna (Irene Manning), now married to mob lawyer Martin T. Fleming (Stanley Ridges). He sits out the heist while the gang gets pinched, but gets fingered anyway by a nervous witness who's pressured to make an ID during intense police grilling.

Now he needs attorney Fleming's help with an alibi, which comes in the form of young car salesman George Anderson (Richard Travis). Anderson's testimony will get Duke released, but small time hood Frenchy (Joe Downing), with a score to settle with Duke, rats out his involvement with Mrs. Fleming to her husband. The prosecuting attorney brings in Anderson's girlfriend who doesn't corroborate the salesman's story. Now Anderson and Duke both find themselves behind bars.

Almost immediately, Duke starts planning his escape, and forms an alliance with The Dancer (Chick Chandler), a talented con man who will head up the prison's talent show. With the help of James Cagney lookalike Quinto (Murray Alper), who plants a gun under the warden's car to be retrieved by Duke in the prison machine shop, the stage for the breakout has been set.

Meanwhile, George is implicated in the escape and faces more hard time if he doesn't spill his guts to the warden. With his conscience getting the better of him, Duke decides to turn himself in. What follows is a quite thrilling car chase scene over slick, snow covered mountain roads. Lorna takes a bullet in the chase, and when she doesn't make it, Duke's revenge on Fleming takes form. In a confrontation with Fleming, Duke gets his revenge, but takes a bullet himself.

Told in flashback from the prison's hospital ward, "The Big Shot" is an interesting period piece. Note the sign in a scene from Sardo's Restaurant - "Italian Dinner - 60 cents"! The film's not in the same league with edgier gangster dramas like Cagney's "White Heat" or "Public Enemy", or even Bogey's earlier effort "Bullets or Ballots" with Edward G. Robinson. But it's not bad either, and a well spent hour and a half or so if you can find it. The film hasn't been released commercially, so you'll have to scour the late night cable movie channels, or source it from a private collector.

It is hard to believe that Lewis Seiler directed all of this film, remembering the very routine handling of his other Bogart vehicles: Crime School, King of the Underworld, You Can't Get Away With Murder and It All Came True. Most likely he took over the direction from some more inventive director and made a game attempt to follow to some degree the film's original remarkably visual style - e.g. the opening scenes of the flashback, a low angle camera tracking with Bogart through the seedy streets, the mood of depression and desperation set by the narration re-inforced by the moody lighting photography with its shadows and great blocks of black.

There are odd snips of the original director's conception throughout: Bogart's face framed by doorways and curtains, a spotlight picking out the dancer on the stage, devices which are used both atmospherically and symbolically (Bogart is "framed" and the dancer is killed in a spotlight). Then there's the obvious one of the cigarette being stamped out before the end title. And there is a remarkable, brief-but-nightmarish montage routine with Bogie sent to prison a four-time loser, the judges rapping out the sentence and the high gates closing.

There's also an effective use of mirrors in a couple of key scenes, and the action spots are excitingly staged and edited. But mostly the film is directed in Seiler's usual routine and unremarkable style - but it does have some great performances.

The script has a couple of flaws. The dialogue tends to be cliched (in fact some of it could be transposed without change into one of those joke books on How To Write Dialogue For the Movies) but in the lips of such wonderful players as Bogie, Irene Manning (looking very attractive here in lighting and costumes), Stanley Ridges (perfect as the criminal mastermind attorney double-dealer), Chick Chandler (giving the performance of his career as the charming, talented but ruthless dancer), Joseph Downing (a ruthless thug to end all ruthless thugs) and others we love every word of it.

The support cast is first-rate with Howard da Silva effective in a small role as Downing's running-mate, Murray Alper ditto as an unwilling stoolie, John Ridgely in a two-line bit as an eager but blind cop, Joseph King as the biding-his-time prosecutor, William Edmunds as the "No trouble in here please, Duke" sleazy cafe proprietor, Virginia Sale as a screamer and Ralph Dunn as the always-standing-around prison guard. Richard Travis is okay as the eager-beaver George though he has some sooky lines to say which he does not manage over well; and while Susan Peters has only a small part as his lady-love, she makes her court-room breakdown fairly convincing.

The plot is improbable, but we don't mind that so much as the fact that with the film three-quarters over, the scriptwriters try to insert a little cosy domesticity and comic relief, which they do very badly and ineptly and quite jarring the mood of the rest of the film. A little deft re-editing could completely eliminate these objectionable scenes and improve the film enormously.

Director Lewis Seiler started out as a gagman and graduated to helming thick-ear mellers at Warners including this entry which marked Bogie's last outing as a gangster having just scored as Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon and about to score even bigger as Rick Blane in Casablanca. There's not a lot wrong with this and Seiler throws in some imaginative angles and touches of light and shade but the timing was just about as wrong as it could be - 1942, a beat or two after Pearl Harbor so that it more or less fell off the radar. Perhaps the odd man out is Howard Da Sylva, a long way from Paramount for what amounts to a nothing role, elsewhere familiar faces like Chick Chandler, Joe Downing, Stanley Ridges and Minor Watson as, what else, the warden, give solid support. Irene Manning does sterling work as the femme lead while ironically fourth-billed Susan Peters got her big break here but stopped a bullet in a hunting accident three years later cutting short a promising career.

Despite having heard of him for a number of years,I have somehow never got round to taking a look at a film starring Humphrey Bogart.Taking a look at movie reviews on IMDb a few months ago,I suddenly stumbled upon what sounded like an excellent Gangster movie starring Bogart.Expecting to find the title on Amazon,I was shocked to find out that the film had not come out on DVD,or VHS.Sadly accepting that I would probably be unable to see the film,I was pleasantly caught by surprise,when I discovered a TV screened edition of the title,which led to me excitingly getting ready to see Bogart take a big shot.

The plot:

Lying in a prison hospital bed after surviving a shootout,Joseph "Duke" Berne is greeted by a former prisoner called George Anderson,who along with his girlfriend,wants to thank Joseph from stopping him being wrongly sent to death row.Feeling that this hospital bed,may soon become his death bed,"Duke" decides to tell Anderson about what led to him laying in this hospital bed.

The past:

Freed from prison after serving 5 years,Berne vows to leave his past life behind,and to instead "go straight".Soon after coming out of jail,Joseph runs into some old "friends" who ask if he can do them some favours.Angered about them trying to pull him back into the underworld,"Duke" pushes one of the gangsters to the ground,and tells him the that part of his life is now long gone.

Being told by one of his (now former "friends" ) that a local attorney called Martin T. Fleming is interested in talking to him,Joseph decides to pay Fleming a surprise visit.Entering Fleming's office,"Duke" is shocked to discover,that a former long time girlfriend of his's named Lorna,has now become Fleming's wife.

With having heard about Berne's past skills,Fleming asks Joseph if he would be willing to do "one last job",which would involve him working with a gang on Fleming's payroll to steal $100,000.Feeling that his back is up against the wall,"Duke" agrees to Flemings demands.

Later that night:

Getting ready to go out on his "one last job",Berne is stopped in his tracks,when Lorna's suddenly appears,holding a gun and telling Joseph that if he goes out to commit the crime,she will shoot him right away.Caving in to Lorna's demand's,"Duke" inadvertently ends up losing his last "big shot" at freedom.

View on the film:

Whilst the second half of the movie shows the title's age by featuring some…less than pc moments,such as one of the actors (not Bogart) covering himself with black pant,director Lewis Seiler and cinematography Sidney Hickox closely work together to give this wonderful Film Noir a raw,gritty atmosphere.

Going "back in time" to the events that have led to "Duke" being on his "death bed",by stylishly scattering images and voices across Berne's eyes,Seiler and Hickox gradually drain any sense of light from "Duke's" shadow filled world,as Berne finds his "going straight" road to disappear into the darkness.

Whilst Joseph Berne's nickname of "Duke" did leave me to temporary think about John Wayne, (aka:"Da Duke!") the terrific screenplay by Abem Finkel,Daniel Fuchs and Bertram Millhauser ruthlessly kicks "Duke's" body down their low-lit gutter street the moment his body lands on the hospital bed,with the writers showing Berne's big shot at freedom being something that he is unable to free from his shadowy past,and the ruthless corruption that will eventually choke the life out of him.

Showing that despite starting the movie in bed,that he is not going to give a performance laying down,Humphrey Bogart gives a powerful performance as Berne's,with Bogart showing "Duke's" desire to "go straight" to be at the centre of the character's conflicted heart,as Berne's discovers that everything he desires and holds dear is connected to his crocked past.

Joining Bogart,Stanley Ridges gives an excellent,gleeful performance as Martin T.Fleming,with Ridges showing Fleming to be prepared to do anything to get his hands filled with cash.Giving a vicious femme fatale swipe,the terrific Irene Manning gives a stunning performance as Lorna Fleming,with Manning showing "Duke" all of the temptations in front of him,as long as he gives up on his last ever big shot.

Not even Bogart can save this film. Bogart's fame had caught up with his talent by the time this film was made. Its surprising that Warner would make such a bad film that could have wrecked the career of its star. If anyone thinks this film is great, just ask somebody who is film buff, which means a Bogart fan who played in "Big Shot", chances are the question will go unanswered. This film is hardly ever played, and its no wonder. For those commentators who liked the chase scene in the snow, they must have never ridden a motorcycle, let alone in the snow on mountain roads. The cops do eventually crash, but not before firing about twenty shots,which means they would have had to reload at least twice, while driving one handed. For those not familiar with revolvers, and apparently the writer's were not, loading a revolver is basically a two handed operation. So that means the cops would have been driving in the snow with no hands on the bars.

Unrealistic court rooms are not unusual for most movies, but this one is really bad. Surprise witnesses may be dramatic, but they are hardly an accurate portrait of the court system.

Unlike most Bogart gangster movies, you can never figure out whether he's a robin hood bad guy, or just a bad guy. In this film, the writer's created someone who comes across as a little sappy. Wasn't it quite unlike other Bogart characters to be stopped from pulling an armored car robbery by his former girl friend now married to the crooked attorney who for some never quite explained reason will get most of the loot.

The only good line in this film is during the prison break scene where the former girl friend is trying to fool around, and Bogart retorts, "I can only do one thing at a time." Not only was it a funny line, but one of the most believable.

I am still trying to figure out how Bogart and girlfriend got out of the house into their car. The prison seemed more like a refuge for bad actors, rather than bad characters. If a guy acted like "Dancer Smith" in prison, he would probably been raped so often, he would never been able to dance. This also was the first prison break that used a spot light to put out the lights. A novel but highly unlikely way of to start a break.

Its hard to believe that Warner Brothers put this film out at the same time it put out the Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, High Sierra. Some of Best films ever made which makes this film a real stinker.