The Big Heat
Gloria Grahame is iconic as a fearless gun moll in Fritz Lang’s shocking noir The Big Heat, about a vengeful copper (Glenn Ford) on a mission to take down the gang that brought violence to his literal doorstep. Lee Marvin is unforgettable as a loudmouthed crime boss with a sadistic streak—though Grahame steals the show with her scorching performance. Adapted from a Saturday Evening Post serial, Lang’s taut thriller remains one of his most beloved American productions.

Human Desire
Ford and Grahame reunite for this radiantly bleak railroad noir. Ford plays a returning Korean War vet and train conductor who becomes violently embroiled in the turbulent marriage of lusty Grahame and quick-tempered railroad yard manager Broderick Crawford. An adaptation of the same 1890 Émile Zola novel that Jean Renoir made into La bête humaine (1938) with Jean Gabin and Simone Simon, Human Desire is one of Lang’s iciest portraits of humanity’s bestial side.