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| The Big Heat (1953) | |
| Background
Similar fast-paced, Hollywood exposé gangster films of the 50s, with shocking public revelations about corruption, attempted to raise the question of the control of organized syndicates of crime over American towns and cities:
One of the film's taglines on a poster revealed the compulsive and personal drive of the average Joe protagonist to vengefully retaliate against the forces of corruption:
It emphasized the film's uncompromising and grim story of an iron-willed, driven, dedicated, honest, incorruptible homicide detective (Glenn Ford) within a crooked and perverted society and corrupt system at all levels (e.g., the mob, the commissioner, the police, and everyday citizens), and the enormous price that is paid to find justice. The crusading, vigilante rogue cop/hero must erode his idealistic, law-abiding principles when he resorts to the unlawful tactics of the hoodlums after the tragic murder of his young wife by sadistic, viperous gang members led by a big-time crime boss. He enlists the help of one of the gangs' molls, femme fatale (Gloria Grahame), in order to seek revenge. The nihilistic film is best known for the shocking, misogynous scene of facial disfigurement, when a pretty gangster moll has a pot of scalding coffee callously tossed into her face by her abusive, enraged and disgruntled boyfriend (Lee Marvin). The message of the film is that only when courageous, moral individuals stand together is it possible to save the society (and home and family life) from being overtaken by sinister forces of evil. [A number of the film's most violent moments occur off-screen, e.g., the opening suicide, the bar-fly's torture and killing, the car explosion, the scalding with hot coffee, Larry Gordon's death, etc. but a second scalding occurs on-screen, and two women are shot to death in full view. There are other less violent crudities as well, e.g., an obscene phone call, and a cigarette burning a bar-fly's hand.] This film lacked Academy Award nominations. The StoryAll the major characters are economically introduced in a few minutes within the tightly condensed narrative. The gritty crime film opens appropriately with a much-celebrated, giant closeup of a .38 gun lying on a living room desk. The hand of a man seated at the desk reaches for the gun and removes the weapon from view. After a single gunshot to his temple - a sudden suicide - the man falls forward into camera view and slumps over the desk. Policeman Tom Duncan has put a bullet through his head with the revolver. At three a.m. (displayed on a giant grandfather clock), his "widow" Bertha Duncan (Jeanette Nolan) descends a staircase and discovers his body. Like a prototypical film noir femme fatale, she reacts coldly and unemotionally to the suicide. She notices his confession note in an envelope addressed to the District Attorney at the Hall of Justice in the pseudonymous town of Kenport. After quickly glancing through the contents of the pages, she reaches for the phone. [The manipulative widow ultimately uses the confessional letter to blackmail a big-time mob boss, because it links the city administration to the syndicate executive. Throughout the film, the chain of command within various hierarchies and their respective communication links are represented by the use of telephones.] The gangster mob boss/crime lord Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby) [his silk pajamas are monogrammed with ML], resting in his well-furnished, luxurious bedroom, is wakened by one of his gang members (wearing a white terry-cloth robe) to take the private line phone call from "Tom Duncan's widow." Bertha informs him of the mishap, and then it is suggested that she "call the police immediately." Lagana has his male attendant George Rose (Chris Alcaide) dial Vince Stone - but the phone is answered by Vince's girlfriend Debby. She is wearing a white dress and lolling back on a sofa in a modern, posh, ostentatious penthouse suite. The film's heroine, Debby Marsh (Gloria Grahame, who had won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award a year earlier for The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)) is the beautiful moll and kept-woman of sadistic, reflexive, cold-blooded Vince Stone (Lee Marvin), Lagana's chief henchman. She is pleased that she must interrupt Vince's poker-playing with his boys to have him answer the call: "I always like to tell Vince you're calling. I like to see him jump." After passing the phone to her boyfriend and being crudely ordered to vacate the room, Debby pauses to vainly admire her reflection in the mirror [the first of many instances in the film]. The next scene, at the place of the murder, opens with the flash of a police photographer's camera bulb taking a picture of the corpse of the victim. Tie-less, half-dressed homicide Police Sergeant Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) investigates the suicide of fellow cop Tom Duncan (in charge of the Record Bureau) after being summoned: "When a cop kills himself, they want a full report." Although a suicide is determined to be the cause of death, Bannion remarks that oddly, there's "no note or anything." He decides to talk to Mrs. Duncan in her upstairs bedroom. Bertha primps and rehearses how she looks before her own set of mirrors at her vanity table - before Bannion's interview. She sobs - pretending to be distressed and upset. The grieving widow explains that her husband was a good cop. She invents the story that he killed himself because of depression over ill health:
The Kenport News reports the story, with Mrs. Duncan's credible explanation for the suicide:
In the next brightly-lit scene, transitioned by Bannion reading the newspaper, he is seen enjoying a peaceful home life - in a scene of domestic tranquility. His blonde, young and vivacious American wife Katherine 'Katie' (Jocelyn Brando, Marlon Brando's sister) is clad in a checkered apron in their simple yet respectable, wood-paneled home of the 1950s. Exhibiting an egalitarian marriage, he helps her set the table for a "medium-rare" steak dinner (a huge piece of meat that she cuts in half) with baked potatoes that she has prepared in their modest kitchen. They both share things - she sips from his drink and takes a drag off his cigarette. They have a pre-kindergarden daughter, a "holy terror" named Joyce (Linda Bennet), whose college education will mean the end to their extravagance "unless you become police commissioner in the meantime." In their warm banter with each other, they thoughtfully discuss their child-rearing philosophy that is similar to a baby care book that recommends "be patient but firm."
They jokingly summarize their sense of togetherness and complementary sharing in their marriage:
Their meal (and their loving home life) is interrupted when family man Bannion receives a phone call [the first of two such instances that disturb his peaceful life] from a police sergeant regarding the investigation - with the news that Duncan's death wasn't a suicide: "Duncan didn't kill himself." He is asked to question a woman who has contacted the police with a different story. The scene ends with a close-up of his notes on a pad: Lucy Chapman, The Retreat. That dark evening at the local downtown club, The Retreat (lined with photos of pin-up girls), Duncan's girlfriend Lucy Chapman (Dorothy Green), who calls herself a "B-girl," tells Bannion that Duncan had no reason to kill himself. Hustling barfly Lucy explains that Duncan's widow is a liar and that Tom was not suffering from depression over health problems, as the newspapers and Bertha had both reported: "This story's all wrong, Mr. Bannion. Why, Tom wouldn't kill himself. He wasn't worried about his health, not for a single minute." Lucy describes the unsavory details of how she had a thing for Tom ("he was a real wonderful guy...nice and gentle") and he was never happier, especially since Bertha had recently agreed to divorce him. She had first met Duncan "down in Lakeside - Tom owned a summer place there." [Was Tom on Lagana's payroll, thereby able to afford a second home? And did he kill himself out of guilt?] They would get together when his wife was away traveling: "We'd go swimming and then lie around in the sun." She explains the difference between Bertha and herself:
But Bannion is confrontative, malevolent, and hostile toward the less-than-human, sexually-active bargirl. [He categorizes women as either pure saints or trashy whores.] Skeptical of her account and prejudiced against the no-good partygirl, he believes that she is using him "for a shakedown." She counter-accuses him, with a harsh tone, of "covering up for a cop's widow." Lucy vows that she will talk to reporters to tell the true story: "Tom had no reason to kill himself." Acting self-righteous and slanderous, Bannion is unaware of the implications of Lucy's information. Bannion's suspicions are slightly aroused, however, and he returns to further question the widow Bertha Duncan, to check up on her story and to find out why her husband took his own life. Bertha confesses to their "dirty family linen" and Tom's affair with Lucy: "I suppose that woman told you about their relationship." Bertha denounces Lucy Chapman as a liar, when she denies that she had agreed to a divorce, and when she asserts that Tom had a terminal illness. She also explains that Tom was a frequent womanizer during the years of their marriage:
Bannion asks how they could afford an expensive second house in Lakeside and insinuates that their second home was probably beyond their humble means on a typical cop's salary ("a wealthy policeman would be a novelty"):
Bertha becomes haughty and furious. Resenting the question ("I resent the implications of your questions"), she refuses to answer any further, although Bannion defends his tact: "It's my job to have the material to offset any insinuations that she (Lucy) might make." After Bannion leaves, the scene ends with Bertha pulling the curtain aside and looking out of her window. Her image dissolves into the sight of a teletype machine printing out a message [symbolically connecting her to the murder of Lucy Chapman]. Lucy's tortured (with cigarette burns) and beaten body is discovered by the side of the parkway, thrown from a car. The message is handed to Bannion to read (along with the film audience):
Bannion hurriedly leaves the police office, passing a poster that orders: "GIVE BLOOD NOW." At the office of the County Medical Examiner in the County Morgue, Dr. Kane crassly remarks after the victim has been identified:
Upon his return to the office, Bannion is called in to speak to his superior, Lieutenant Wilks (Willis Bouchey). As the Lieutenant washes his hands, literally and figuratively, he mentions: "I had a call from upstairs." Bannion is reprimanded for his "bad judgment" in bothering Bertha Duncan ("a cop's widow") with sensitive questions, in his second visit, about the love life of her husband. Because "somebody" complained, and the Lieutenant doesn't wish to antagonize any higher-ups in the hierarchy of command, Bannion he is not only advised but then told to close the case due to "pressure calls from upstairs."
"A corn-stepper by instinct," Bannion is not able to understand why he is ordered to lay off the case and "stop pestering the widow," since he now realizes that Lucy told the truth: "She talks to me just once - (he clicks his finger) - like that, she's dead." Like the County Medical Examiner, the Lieutenant devalues Lucy Chapman's life:
Bannion is motivated to pursue the forbidden investigation and mystery even further. The scene in the Lieutenant's office dissolves to a cocktail glass, held up in the air by The Retreat's bartender Tierney (Peter Whitney) as he checks and polishes it for cleanliness. Bannion has returned there to question the bartender about Lucy Chapman, but Tierney assumes a "don't ask" policy about any of the barfly's motivations and actions [she isn't worth caring about, because she represents the complete opposite of stable, settled suburban home life]:
Bannion is led around in circles by the "double-talk"ing bartender: "You ought to be doing radio commercials. How to talk alot and say nothing." When he leaves, he waits around to see that Tierney immediately makes an "important" phone call [to Lagana]. Confronted, he claims he called his "mother." When Bannion threatens to take the bartender downtown for more questioning, Tierney gloats that has already been informed that Bannion has been warned to not "butt into a county case" out of his jurisdiction and to "stop annoying people." That evening, Bannion returns home in a tense and "let-down" mood ("an occupational disease with cops") that is sensed by his wife: "You look down in the dumps." He accidentally topples his daughter Joyce's (Linda Bennett) play castle of blocks (a police station) and upsets her. When his wife picks up the ringing phone [the second intrusive phone call], she hears four-letter obscene words directed at her. Enraged that his pure-minded wife has heard insulting language, Bannion takes the phone and is threatened [(by Larry Gordon (Adam Williams))] to stay out of the case because important people are involved:
Bannion is incensed by the scheming of ruthless crime bosses to put him down and threaten his home life: "It's just another part of the scheme to make me crawl back in my shell." Although not knowing who called, he immediately suspects Mike Lagana, a civic leader but also the untouchable crime lord who runs the town ("that's no secret") and is at the heart of all shady dealings in town. Bannion leaves his wife (who has invited guests for dinner) and drives to Lagana's stately, palatial mansion. The property is protected by an extensive, round-the-clock detail of patrolling policeman ("ten cops (who) watch over Mike Lagana. 100 bucks a day of the taxpayers' money"). The cop on duty only follows orders:
The trenchcoated sergeant arrives in the midst of an upper-class American dance party for Lagana's teenaged daughter (who dates a football player). He undiplomatically pushes by the butler in his way through the front door and confronts Lagana in the lobby. Within the mansion's library-study, the immensely-wealthy, first-generation Italian immigrant (made-good) Lagana speaks about his overstated devotion to his sainted mother (typical for a gangster figure, e.g., in Public Enemy (1931), Little Caesar (1930) and White Heat (1949)) - prominently portrayed in an idealized painting above the fireplace:
Rather than coming on a fund-raising errand (for a benefit dance or pension-fund drive), Bannion demands answers to Lucy Chapman's "old-fashioned," prohibition-style murder (the bar-girl that Lagana ordered killed). But hypocritically, the suave, refined Lagana doesn't want to talk about such matters in his home (especially a murder committed Prohibition-style), and threatens to remove Bannion from his position. The cop threatens Lagana to leave his own household and his wife alone:
Bannion anger explodes - he beats up Lagana's handsome bodyguard George who tries to throw him out. He challenges Lagana to "pinch-hit" for his strong-arm protector - before suddenly leaving. The next day, Bannion is reprimanded one more time by Lt. Wilks for walking into Lagana's house and slugging his bodyguard: "You're no rookie. You've been around long enough to know better...I'm the one getting the squeeze from upstairs." Bannion explains the rationale for what he did:
Wilks warns that this is Bannion's second and final warning. Returning to his own cramped and modest home that night, Bannion tells his wife that he almost tossed in his badge because he finds it more and more difficult to overlook corruption. She expresses confidence in his risky search for the truth and advises him to not back down. She would rather that he not consider the possible consequences for himself and his family - and then they share the film's most intimate moments:
Katie prepares to leave the house [the only instance that she exits the house in the film proves disastrous] to drive over and get a babysitter for their daughter, because they are going out for the evening to the movies. While he is in the bedroom putting young Joyce to bed, Katie's opening and closing of the car door in the driveway are heard through the window behind them. When the ignition is turned on, a car bomb explodes in a bright flash and violently shakes the bedroom - it is Lagana's retaliation, meant for him. Although he is able to pull her from the burning vehicle, she is already dead from the vicious attack. |
The
Big Heat (1953) is director Fritz Lang's landmark bleak, film
noir crime classic and violent melodrama. Lang's characteristic
expressionistic lighting, use of sets and decor, and costuming
sharply reflected the personality traits of the film's major
characters. The sparse screenplay of a potent story laced with
revenge, murder, and hate was written by former crime reporter
Sidney Boehm and based on a Saturday Evening Post serial
and the hard-hitting, brutal 1952 novel by William P. McGivern.
The film's title referred to the police enforcement crack-down
on lawlessness and illegal activities.