William Peter McGivern (1918 - 1982), American novelist and television scriptwriter, was born in Chicago, but grew up in Mobile, Alabama. He began writing for magazines such as Amazing Stories and Short Stories in the early 1940s. In 1943 he enlisted in the army. After his enlistment ended, he worked as police reporter for the Philadelphia Bulletin. His first novel appeared in 1948, and by his death in 1982, he had published more than 20 novels. As a writer, McGivern covered the gamut of crime--homicide, detection, espionage, political corruption.
In a review, Anthony Boucher wrote: "Someday McGivern will, like [Graham] Greene, be recognized as a novelist of stature and spiritual complexity; and meanwhile he will be enjoyed as one of today's ablest storytellers." To this point fifty years later, such praise has eluded the author. Today, few, if any, of his books are in print, and he is remembered, if at all, as the author of The Big Heat only through the film of the same name.
Hollywood adapted several of his novels, including The Big Heat (1953), Rogue Cop (1954), and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). In 1954 The Big Heat received an Edgar as Best Mystery Motion Picture. He also went on to write screenplays for Hollywood, including I Saw What You Did (1965), The Wreaking Crew (1969), and his own Night of the Juggler ( 1980). In 1976 he directed an episode of Kojak .
 Jocelyn Brando as the loving wife accepts a kiss
from Glenn Ford in The Big Heat
The Big Heat is the story of a detective, Dave Bannion, who battles corruption and crime in a big eastern city. Bannion, big both physically and morally, refuses to compromised, and when he continues to investigate the death of another cop, he finds himself the target of the mob. By mistake, they kill his wife. He quits the police force and sets out to bring in the killers on his own.
Bannion is a reflective individual. Early in the novel he turns to St. John's Ascent of Man for self-restoration, but once his wife meets her fate, he puts aside all such reflective thought. He turns hard and callous. At one point he confronts Stone, a psychopathic killer. "Stone saw something in Bannion's face that cut off the angry blistering words coming up in his throat. He knew Bannion was ready to kill him; this just wasn't mouth work. This was murder. Stone was suddenly cold and empty; it had happened so swiftly, so inevitably, he had no time to get ready for it. It was like a bomb going off in your face." Only at the end where he has finished his mission does he return to St. John.
The Big Heat became the last great film in the long career of Fritz Lang. Paul Jensen in The Cinema of Fritz Lang said of the film: "Its sensibly conceived script (by Sydney Boehm) apparently impelled Lang to create a strong, tense film with characters that are consistently close to reality." Part of the credit must be given to William McGivern, whose novel the screenwriter followed so closely.
|
 Glenn Ford faces mob boss Alexander Scourby
in The Big Heat
As in the book, the story opens with the suicide of a policeman. Soon the question of what drove him to his death has become the paramount force behind the movements of Detective Lieutenant Dave Bannion. Warned off the case by his superior and threatened by gangsters, he persists in his investigations. He uncovers enough evidence to implicate the suicide with political and judicial corruption, all under the control of underworld boss Mike Lagana.
A hirling places a bomb in Bannion's car, but Bannion's wife--and only support system--is killed instead. Up to this point, Bannion has acted morally in a world without morals. Now his methods change, and he searches not for the truth or justice but revenge.
The script--as the novel did--makes Bannion and Lagana believable by making them more than just hero and villain. Each contains elements of the other. Bannion becomes ruthless and capable of murder, Lagana is a family man proud of his mother and teenage daughter. This abstraction of duel personalities finds its penultimate outlet in Debbie, Vince Stone's mistress. She stays with Stone for the money and pleasure, but she finds Bannion appealing because of his strength.
 Gloria Grahame tries to understand Gleen Ford
in The Big Heat
When Vince discovers she has spent the evening with Bannion, he throws boiling coffee in her face, permanently scarring her. She goes to Bannion for help, and he takes her in. Later when Bannion discovers a witness holding information on Lagana that would destroy him--information that would only come to light if the witness is dead--Debbie takes matters in her own hands to solve the problem, and in the process, extracts her own revenge on Vince Stone and Lagana.
 Gloria Grahame extracts her revenge on Lee Marvin
in The Big Heat
The film includes only one major scene not in the novel. Debbie returns to Stone's apartment, and when he comes home, she throws boiling coffee in his face. Otherwise, the screenplay includes so much of the novel that it is as if McGivern wrote it himself. Perhaps Glenn ford fails physically to resemble Dave Bannion--Sterling Hayden would have been closer--but Ford brings the needed intensity and determination to the role. Gloria Grahame is terrific as Debbie, who is both naïve and savvy at the same time. Lee Marvin, always an excellent villain, is especially nasty as Vince Stone. In truth, there is not a weak performance in the film.
While McGivern's stature as a writer has suffered since the 1950's, The Big Heat remains as readable and as vital today as they did then. Fritz Lang and screenwriter Sydney Boehm thought enough of the original to change very little in their adaptation, and as a result, the film has become a cornerstone of film noir and a true classic of the American film.
|
