When I watch movies like The Big Heat (1953), I feel I am doing my mentor at Loyola University Chicago, Dr. Lewis Erenberg, proud.  His course on Twentieth Century America on Film was one of the first I took when I started my Ph.D. program, and was formative for the rest of my career.  Indeed, I can at least partially credit his influence for the existence of The Legionnaire.  As for today’s film, it is an example of film noir, a genre to which I was first exposed to in his course.  The one he showed us was The Asphalt Jungle (1950).  If memory serves me correctly, this was the selection in which he left me in charge of the class, he having to be away that day for the sort of thing tenured professors have to do, which is to say who knows?  This required me to familiarize myself with the filming techniques and how they were particular to that time and style, cinematically and historically.  It was with these lessons in mind that I watched The Big Heat, and still found myself surprised in a few moments.  I think Lew would smile at this revelation.

A title like The Big Heat might suggest something having to do with the weather.  However, like many crime dramas, it starts with a death.  Specifically, it is the suicide of Officer Tom Duncan, a cop.  No sooner has the gunshot to the temple that kills him ring out does his wife, Bertha Duncan (Jeanette Nolan), calmly walk downstairs to the desk over which his lifeless corpse is slumped.  She immediately notices an envelope, which contains a letter of some kind that she reads with growing concern.  Instead of ringing the police, her first call is to gangster Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby).  She informs him about the death and what she found, and he tells her to contact the authorities.  One of the first detectives on the scene is Sergeant Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford), who knew Officer Gordon.  Though it appears to be a clear suicide, for form’s sake Sergeant Bannion asks Bertha why her husband might do such a thing.  She claims that he had been in poor health.  While this is not the way he remembers Tom, Sergeant Bannion nonetheless does not press the matter.  Later, while having dinner with his wife, Katie Bannion (Jocelyn Brando), Sergeant Bannion gets a tip about a woman named Lucy Chapman (Dorothy Green) at a nightclub called The Retreat.  She is accusing the papers of having Tom’s death wrong.  When Sergeant Bannion makes it to the bar, she goes on to explain that there was nothing physically wrong with Tom.  Instead, he had been carrying on an affair with her.  A few of the locale’s denizens give Sergeant Bannion a suspicious look as he leaves.  He next returns to the Gordon residence to ask Bertha about these revelations.  She responds at first by saying they are lies, but later admits to knowing about the infidelity but not wanting to say anything in order to preserve her husband’s good name.  Once more, it looks like Sergeant Bannion has reached a dead end until he learns Lucy had been murdered.  Despite a warning from Lieutenant Ted Wilks (Willis Bouchey), Sergeant Bannion returns to The Retreat looking for answers.  Tierney (Peter Whitney), the bar tender, is the one who fields Sergeant Bannion’s questions about Lucy, but he is evidently hiding what he knows.  Tierney also proves impervious to threats, suggesting that if Sergeant Bannion arrests him, Tierney will be out just as quickly and Sergeant Bannion will be in bigger trouble.  In other words, Tierney has friends in high places.  Those friends next arrange for Sergeant Bannion’s car to explode when he attempts to drive it one evening as he is about to go out with Katie.  The problem is that it is Katie behind the wheel when it blows up, not Sergeant Bannion.  After some time passes, he is brought before Commissioner Higgins (Howard Wendell).  The chief of police offers financial assistance, but all Sergeant Bannion wants is those responsible.  The platitudes uttered by Commissioner Higgins indicate to Sergeant Bannion that his boss is on Mike’s payroll.  As such, Dave is only too happy to hand in his badge when it is asked for, but the gun, being his personal possession, stays in its holster.  Dave has decided to go rogue in looking into Katie’s murder, and he gets a lead that suggests that some expertise was gained from junk yards.  With the assistance of an old lady working at one of them, he learns the name “Larry.”  This turns out to be Larry Gordon (Adam Williams), a thug in the employ of Vince Stone (Lee Marvin).  Vince is in the government, but also an associate to Mike, and together they run the city.  They also hang out at The Retreat, which is where Dave goes to find Larry.  Instead, Sergeant Bannion is accosted by Debby Marsh (Gloria Grahame), Vince’s girlfriend, who is disillusioned by her relationship with the gangster and gives information.  Larry, who had been late in arriving, sees her leave with Dave and reports this to Vince.  In response, Vince burns her face with hot coffee, pushing her further into Dave’s camp.  With the ex-cop becoming more of a menace, Mike and Vince agree that they need to do something to keep Dave quiet.  Their plan is to kidnap Dave’s daughter.  However, Dave has a number of his friends armed and guarding her location.  This frees him to once more confront Bertha, who reveals that Tom’s note contains information on all the dirty dealings going on in the city.  It is also her insurance card in case either Mike or Vince seek her demise.  While Dave still has qualms about killing unarmed people, the spurned Debby feels differently.  Bertha’s death means that the letter goes public.  Unfortunately, she dies when she tries to turn the tables on Vince.  Dave gets to Vince’s apartment too late to prevent her from being mortally wounded.  Yet, Dave is able to overpower Vince, handing the criminal over to his remaining friends among the police.  Dave then goes to comfort Debby as she lays dying.  The last shot is of Dave returning to his desk in the homicide and a life of legally fighting crime.

One of the hallmarks of film noir is its violence, and The Big Heat has its share.  Still, it was made in the 1950s.  Because of the guidelines in place for moviemaking, I was shocked when Katie’s dies in the explosion.  Of course, they do not show it, and instead of a mangled body, she looks like she has just fallen asleep.  People do die in these movies, even during this period, but the way in which the Bannion marriage is built up as being perfect had me not expecting this turn of events.  It is nothing short of a tragedy, but this Catholic reviewer cannot condone the rampage that Dave goes on in its aftermath.  This is an easy enough observation from a Faith perspective.  The character who gave me pause for a deeper analysis is Debby.  She is someone who does not seem to have been well treated by anyone, particularly men, for her entire life.  In rationalizing the beatings she sometimes receives from Vince, she brushes them aside by saying that you have to take the good with the bad.  Excusing such things is not a good sign.  It indicates that she does not know true love or her self-worth.  Even if she had a perfect relationship with Vince, this is not something any human can give you.  The only One who can give you anything close to a complete picture of how incredible of a person you are, including someone like Debby who claims to only care about material things, is God.  He sees what Debby cannot see, at least not while she is with Vince.  It is not perfect, though, as she continues to place a great deal of importance on her looks.  Even while she at the point of death, she is still commenting on how the burns on her face make her look ugly.  And while her homicide does help expose a bigger criminal, it is not the preferred method of doing what is right.  What her character points to is the need to learn to be okay with imperfections.  God is more than okay with ours, and we have the opportunity to continue to grow with them.

I wish I had the opportunity to speak to Lew about The Big Heat.  When I graduated in 2013, he had been in the early stages of Parkinson’s, which is not the best way to start one’s retirement, to say the least.  I have not contacted him in some time, but I do think of him often.  I am sure he would agree with me in recommending this one.