1. The Big Combo – Title Sequence
Having watched the opening sequence I have understood how the film presents the
theme of film noir by creating a mixture of dark clips presented in a cityscape, which
is successfully portraying all the conventions of a film noir.
0:00/0:00
Clip Begins
0:00/0:06
Opens with a pan of the city rotating left, showing the title "ALLIED ARTISTS PICTURE
CORPORATION PRESENTS" In bold, white, capitalised text
0:06/0:11
Still panning to the left showing the cityscape, the title changes showing an actors
name called "CORNEL WILDE" Again in bold, white, capitalised text
0:12/0:17
Still panning to the left the title sequence again changes to another actors name
called "RICHARD CONTE" Text is bold, white and capitalised
0:17/0:21
“BRIAN DONLEVY” Title appears text is bold, white and capitalised
0:21/0:26
“JEAN WALLACE” Title appears, text is bold, white and capitalised
0:26/0:33
The panning shot ends showing the cityscape in the background. The titles dominate
this part of the scene as we are presented with “THE BIG COMBO BY PHILIP
YORDAN”
0:33/0:41
As the next scene opens with the city stopped at traffic, another title appears saying
“Featuring, Robert Middleton, Lee Van Cleef, Earl Holliman, Helen Walker, Jay Adler,
John Hoyt, Ted De Costra and Helene Stanton.” The text is bold and is presented in a
list going from the top left of the screen to the bottom right as if each name has
been indented further as the list goes down.
0:41/0:53
The titles change again with the same backdrop of the city stood still saying “With
Roy Gordon, Whit Bissel, Steve Mitchell, Brian O’Hara, Rita Gould, Bruce Sharpe,
Michael Mark, Phillip Van Zandt and Donna Drew. Like the previous title sequence
each name is indented further as the list progresses down.
0:53/0:58
Michael Hutchinson

2. When the titles change again the text now says “Jacob Gimpel with Piano Soloist”
followed by “Jean Wallace’s Wardrobe Designed by Don Loper.” Directly below in
bold capitalised text.
0:58/1:09
Shows a large list of production staff indicating many of the people involved in the
production of this film with a backdrop of a cityscape.
1:09/1:15
The next scene fades in from a transition saying “John Alton Director Of
Photography” The cityscape has also changed back to moving traffic showing a busy
city.
1:15/1:23
The previous text fades out and the next title fades in saying “Music by David Raksin”
on the same backdrop as the previous titles
1:23/1:27
The next titles appear and the camera begins to pan down from a high angle to a low
angle with the titles now saying “Produced by Sidney Harmon” in bold capitalised
font.
1:27/1:30
Finally the title sequences end saying “Directed by Joseph Lewis” and the pan comes
to an end to signify the start of the film in a busy city typical of a film noir.
Michael Hutchinson