The Big Heat

For other uses, see Big Heat (disambiguation).
The Big Heat

theatrical release poster
Directed by Fritz Lang
Produced by Robert Arthur
Screenplay by Sydney Boehm
Based on the Saturday Evening Post serial and 1953 novel
by William P. McGivern
Starring
Music by Henry Vars
Cinematography Charles Lang
Edited by Charles Nelson
Production
company
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates
  • October 14, 1953 (1953-10-14) (US)
Running time
 89 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $1.25 million (US)[2]

The Big Heat is a 1953 film noir directed by Fritz Lang, starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame and Jocelyn Brando, and featuring Lee Marvin.[3] It is about a cop who takes on the crime syndicate that controls his city, after the murder of his wife. The film was written by former crime reporter Sydney Boehm, based on a serial by William P. McGivern, which appeared in the Saturday Evening Post and was published as a novel in 1953. The film was selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2011.

Plot

Homicide detective Sergeant Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) investigates the suicide of officer Tom Duncan, which seems to have been brought on by ill health. Bannion is contacted by the late cop's mistress, Lucy Chapman (Dorothy Green), who claims it could not have been suicide. Bannion revisits his widow, Bertha Duncan (Jeanette Nolan), asking for particulars on the second home, but she resents the implication. The next day, Bannion is rebuked by Lieutenant Ted Wilks (Willis Bouchey), who is under pressure from "upstairs" to close the case. Chapman is found dead after being tortured and covered with cigarette burns. Bannion investigates, although the case is not in his jurisdiction. After receiving threatening calls to his home, he confronts Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby), the local mob boss who runs the city. and finds that people are too scared to stand up to the crime syndicate. When warnings to Bannion go unheeded, his car is blown up and his wife Katie (Jocelyn Brando) is killed. After accusing his superiors of corruption, Bannion resigns.

When Lagana's second-in-command Vince Stone (Lee Marvin) punishes a girl in a nightclub—by burning her hand with a cigar butt—Bannion stands up to him, which impresses Stone's girlfriend Debby Marsh (Gloria Grahame). Marsh tries to get friendly with Bannion, who keeps pointing out that she gets her money from a thief. When Debby unwittingly reminds Bannion of his late wife, he sends her out of his hotel room. Debby had been seen with Bannion and when she returns to Stone's penthouse, he accuses her of talking to Bannion about his activities and throws boiling coffee in her face. Debby is taken to hospital by Police Commissioner Higgins, who was playing poker with Stone and his group at the flat. With her face disfigured, Debby returns to Bannion, who finds her a room at his hotel. Debby identifies the man who had arranged the planting of the dynamite as Larry Gordon (Adam Williams), one of Stone's associates. Bannion forces Gordon to admit to the bombing, who reveals that Duncan's widow has papers that could expose Stone and Lagana, and is collecting blackmail payments from Lagana. Bannion refrains from killing Gordon, instead spreading the word that Gordon had talked, and Gordon is murdered by Stone's men. Bannion then confronts Mrs. Duncan, accusing her of betraying Chapman, causing her death and protecting Lagana and Stone. Cops sent by Lagana arrive before he can strangle her and Bannion departs.

Stone decides to kidnap Bannion's young daughter Joyce (Linda Bennett), who is staying with an aunt and uncle under a police guard. When the police guard is called away at the behest of Lagana, the uncle calls in a few army buddies for their protection. Bannion then sets off to deal with Stone, meeting Lieutenant Wilks (Willis Bouchey), who is now prepared to make a stand against the mob. Debby goes to see Mrs. Duncan, noting they are both wearing the same expensive coats and have benefited from an association with gangsters, and kills her. Stone returns to his penthouse and Debby throws boiling coffee at him. Stone shoots her but after a short gun battle with Bannion, who had followed him, is captured. As Debby lies dying, Bannion describes his late wife to her in terms of their relationship, rather than the physical "police description" he gave earlier and tells her that she and his wife would have gotten along. Stone is then arrested for murder, Duncan's evidence is made public, and Lagana and Commissioner Higgins are indicted. Bannion returns to his job at Homicide.

Cast

Production

The film was based on a serial by William P. McGivern, which appeared in the Saturday Evening Post from December 1952 and was published as a novel in 1953. Initially, McGivern's novel was to be produced by Jerry Wald, who wanted either Paul Muni, George Raft or Edward G. Robinson (who worked with director Fritz Lang in Woman in the Window and Scarlet Street) for the role of Dave Bannion. Columbia Pictures paid $40,000 for McGivern's novel. Lang directed the film while Sydney Boehm wrote it.

Boehm made many changes from the novel such as name changes. Commissioner Higgins is not in the novel and Lieutenant Wilks is the corrupt policeman. An honest policeman called Cranston, who was in the novel, was also omitted from the film.

In the novel, it is only known that Deery was blackmailing Lagana in the end. Debby shoots her and then mortally wounds herself. After Stone is cornered by Bannion, he is killed by another policeman. Instead of taking place in the fictional city of Kenport, the film takes place in Philadelphia.

Columbia wanted Marilyn Monroe to play the part of Debby Marsh. 20th Century Fox demanded too much money for the loan, so Gloria Grahame got the role.

Rex Reason was slated to play either Tierney or Detective Burke, but his agent wanted a larger part. Eventually, Reason wasn't cast and Peter Whitney and Robert Burton were cast respectively in the roles of Tierney and Burke.

In the scene where Stone and Bannion first meet each other, "Put the Blame On Mame" is played by the musical group at the bar. This song was used in the 1946 noir classic Gilda, which starred Ford and Rita Hayworth and was also produced by Columbia.[4]

Preservation

The Academy Film Archive preserved The Big Heat in 1997.[5]

Critical response

The New York Times and Variety both gave The Big Heat very positive reviews. Bosley Crowther of the Times described Glenn Ford "as its taut, relentless star" and praises Lang for bringing "forth a hot one with a sting."[6] Variety characterized Lang's direction as "tense" and "forceful."[7] Critic Roger Ebert listed the film among his category of "Great Movies" and he praised the film's supporting actors.[8]

Writer David M. Meyer states that the film never overcomes the basic repulsiveness of its hero, but notes that some parts of the film, though violent, are better than the film as a whole: "Best known is Gloria Grahame's disfigurement at the hands of über-thug Lee Marvin, who flings hot coffee into her face."[9]

According to film critic Grant Tracey, the 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."[10]

Awards and honors

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:


In December 2011, The Big Heat was selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.[14] 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."[14]

Home media

On October 9th, 2015, Twilight Time Movies announced on the Home Theater Forum that they will be releasing the film on February 16, 2016.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Ebert, Roger (2004-06-06). "The Big Heat". The Great Movies. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  2. ↑ 'The Top Box Office Hits of 1953', Variety, January 13, 1954
  3. ↑ "The 100 Best Film Noirs of All Time". Paste. August 9, 2015. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  4. ↑ Blottner, Gene (2015). "Columbia Pictures: A Complete Filmography, 1940-1962". McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-7014-3.
  5. ↑ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
  6. ↑ Crowther, Bosley (October 15, 1953). "The Screen In Review; 'The Big Heat' Has Premiere at the Criterion -- 'Grapes Are Ripe' Also Opens Here". New York Times. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  7. ↑ Variety staff (January 1, 1953). "The Big Heat". Variety. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
  8. ↑ Ebert, Roger (June 6, 2004). "The Big Heat (1953)". The Chicago Sun Times.
  9. ↑ Meyer, David M. (1998). A Girl and a Gun: The Complete Guide to Film Noir on Video. Avon Books. ISBN 0-380-79067-X.
  10. ↑ Tracey, Grant (January 1997). "10 Shades of Noir: The Big Heat". Images (2). Retrieved January 8, 2009.
  11. ↑ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  12. ↑ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  13. 1 2 "AFI's 10 Top 10 Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  14. 1 2 "2011 National Film Registry More Than a Box of Chocolates". Library of Congress. December 28, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
  15. ↑ http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/343496-htf-exclusive-twilight-time-janfeb-2016-release-announcements/
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