MovieChat Forums > The Big Heat (1953) Discussion > SPOILER: How many guns has Dave?

SPOILER: How many guns has Dave?

posted 18 years ago by Phyg_LeGuy
11 replies | jump to latest

SPOILER

If you don’t want me to tell you how this movie ends, LEAVE NOW!

SPOILER

This is what I see in the last 15 minutes.

Dave gives his gun to Debby.

Debby visits Mrs. Duncan, and leaves the gun on the floor when she finishes her mission.

Dave is waiting on the street when Vince gets home, while Debby has been inside long enough to get the coffee good and hot.

When Dave gets up to Vince’s place, Dave is armed.

What happened?

Did Fritz Lang get sloppy with details and hope we wouldn’t notice? Hardly seems likely.

Is it a subtle way of telling us that Dave has friends in unseen places? Hardly seems fair.

[–] hutherprutherford 18 years ago

well, Dave does see his brother in law before he goes to Vince's... And all the army buddies have guns, so maybe he just borrowed one.

[–] H Lime-2 18 years ago

The "extra" gun that he gives to Debbie belonged to Larry. He took it with him when he left Larry's apartment.

[–] Phyg_LeGuy 18 years ago

Excellent eyes, Mr. Lime.

Now that I’ve watched Dave-gives-gun-to-Debby for the fifth time, clearly he has two guns. The shot is briefer than most of the other gun close-ups in the film, but Lang definitely gives us enough to know how many guns there are and who has them all through the movie.

It was a bit confusing for me when the other two detectives arrived at the final carnage and said:
“We’ll take your gun, Dave.”
and
“We went to the Duncan house. I’m sorry you got there first.”

I, blissfully ignorant of such matters, assumed that they would have been able to identify the gun found at Mrs. Duncan’s as either a policeman’s gun or not-a-policeman’s gun. Apparently not.

This is a film worthy of repeat viewings, even for those who know how it ends.

[–] hisgrandmogulhighness 16 years ago

I'm afraid this business of Dave's guns needs a bit of clarification . . .

From the above I must conclude:

1. For protection, Dave left his gun with Debby . . .

2. When he went up to Vince Stone's penthouse, obviously to make a deal, he was carrying Larry's gun . . .

[–] mikead010 16 years ago

Its a pretty simple concept, he cannot use his own weapon to kill. His gun ends up killing the person he wants to kill...Mrs. Duncan and he uses Larry's gun in the last showdown.

Theres a running theme through the movie that the gun is "his." Starting with his refusal to turn it in when he turns in his badge.

[–] hisgrandmogulhighness 16 years ago

Mike . . .

. . . most observant of you . . . and I agree, a most unusual twist . . . however, I must twist things a bit more . . . Dave didn't want to kill Mrs. Duncan . . . he had to have her alive . . . for what he was planning . . . most intriguing this film . . . Lang's best!

[–] dahalpert 14 years ago

1. For protection, Dave left his gun with Debby . . .

2. When he went up to Vince Stone's penthouse, obviously to make a deal, he was carrying Larry's gun . . .

Just the opposite. When he left Larry's place, Dave put Larry's gun in his coat pocket. When he left Debby, he initially unbuttoned his coat and reached for his own gun on his hip, then pulled Larry's gun from his pocket and left that with Debby.

[–] spookyrat1 10 years ago

Correct! Larry's gun to Debbie. He takes the weapon he is familiar with, to face any possible heat. If I was Bannion, I wouldn't be trusting someone else's gun, at the expense of my own.🐭

[–] bdr92 16 years ago

overall the movie sucks never trust IMBD rating i gave that crap 4 of 10

[–] Msainy 15 years ago

Less than 2% of the voters gave this movie a 4 or lower
More than 90% gave it a 7 or higher.
Who do you think we would trust?

Enjoying that are you my darlin'? Bit cold and pointless isn't it my lovely?

[–] marhefka 10 years ago

An 8.0 IMDB rating for this movie is about right. That places it outside the top 250 but still with a very good rating.