film turns the role of the femme fatale on its head: "Whereas many noirs contain the tradition of the femme-fatale, the deadly spiderwoman who destroys her man and his family and career, The Big Heat inverts this narrative paradigm, making Ford [Det. Bannion] the indirect agent of fatal destruction. All four women he meets—from clip joint singer, Lucy Chapman, to gun moll Debby—are destroyed." Awards and honors The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: 2001: AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills – Nominated 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes: Debby Marsh: "We're sisters under the mink." – Nominated 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10: Nominated Mystery Film Nominated Gangster Film In December 2011, The Big Heat was selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. Proclaiming it "one of the great post-war noir films", the Registry stated that The Big Heat "manages to be both stylized and brutally realistic, a signature of its director Fritz Lang." See also List of American films of 1953 References Sources Sarris, Andrew. 1998. “You Ain’t Heard Nothin’ Yet.” The American Talking Film History & Memory, 1927-1949. Oxford University Press. External links The Big Heat at the Greatest Film web site 1953 films 1950s crime thriller films American crime thriller films American black-and-white films Film noir Columbia Pictures films Edgar Award-winning works American films about revenge Films about suicide Films based on American novels Films based on crime novels Films directed by Fritz Lang American police detective films United States National Film Registry films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films