The Big Heat by William P. McGivern

(hb; 1952, 1953)

From the back cover

"MURDER WAS IN THE AIR. A COP HAD KILLED HIMSELF, AND EVERY CROOK IN TOWN KNEW THAT WOULD BE SURE TO BRING ON THE BIG HEAT. Why did they fear a dead man? Dave Bannion, homicide sergeant, fought for the answer to that question. The dead man was a police clerk who shot himself for no obvious reason. That was Bannion's first judgment, until a girl named Lucy presented a quite different picture of the dead man from the one he had shown to the world and to his fastidious, glacial wife. Bannion's chief, Lieutenant Wilks, wanted the case closed and speculation ended quickly and tightly. So did Max Stone and Lagana, who held the city in a sinister, underworld grip. But why? Why did they all fear a dead man?"

Review

Heat is an excellent, waste-no-words, tough-guy of a novel about love, morality and revenge. Its temperamental protagonist, a rogue cop named Dave Bannion, takes no guff and metes out violent punishments to the murderous bad guys whose greed and avarice guides them. There is little nuance in this work, but if you are looking for a slam-bang Fifties-style cop tale with memorable characters, this is a top-notch entry in that genre. This is one of the best bad guy-bruising books I have read in a long time, one worth owning.

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The film was released stateside in October 1953. Fritz Lang directed it, from Sydney Boehm's screenplay, which was (mostly) lifted -- scene for scene -- from McGovern's Saturday Evening Post serial (which later was brought together as a novel).

Glenn Ford played Dave Bannion. Gloria Grahame played Debby Marsh. Jocelyn Brando played Katie Bannion. Carolyn Jones played Doris.

Alexander Scourby played Mike Lagana. Lee Marvin played Vince Stone. Jeanette Nolan played Bertha Duncan. Peter Whitney played Tierney. 

Willis Bouchey played Lt. Ted Wilks. Robert Burton played Gus Burke. Adam Williams played Larry Gordon. Dorothy Green played Lucy Chapman.