Cornel Wilde is Lieutenant Diamond, trying to get the goods on a mob boss. his boss comes down on him for spending so much money and coming up with so little. Brown the mobster (Richard Conte, probably best known for Godfather) is cruel, but he's also very smart and doesn't keep books around to be found. so Diamond goes after the girlfriend (played by Jean Wallace) when she ends up in the hospital. it's good. very serious police drama, as Diamond tries to get the goods on Brown. they have him hooked up to a lie detector, which would never be allowed today. wikipedia tells us that as early as the 1970s, there was serious doubt as to the accuracy of using a polygraph. directed by Joe Lewis, who worked at all the various studios. Wilde was nominated for his bio on Chopin about ten years before this. and he also happened to be married to co-star Jean Wallace for thirty years! they made tons of things together over the years.
Review of The Big Combo
