The Big Heat

A fifties noir novel in which Dave Bannion, a honest cop, leaves the force to look into a murder case that his superiors don’t seem interested in investigating. It’s Bannion against world, or at least it starts out that way. A solid story well told, clearly and with no unnecessary trimmings. One of......more

A solid noir story, bolstered by the author's description of mid-century Philadelphia.......more

When the film version is better known than the source novel, there is a tendency for some to think they know the story. This is always a mistake. The Kim Darby film prevented me from reading TRUE GRIT for years; it is now one of my favorite novels. William McGivern's THE BIG HEAT is so much richer a......more

William P. McGivern’s novel The Big Heat was the source for Fritz Lang’s classic 1953 film noir of the same title. McGivern enjoyed considerable success as a novelist and screenwriter in various genres. The movie followed the plot of the novel fairly closely, even including the famous coffee pot scen......more

The sign on the door said - CFNA under that was "Crime Film Noir Anonymous", I opened it and walked in. Behind the desk sat a peroxide blonde (I swear) 'bout mid 30's. Name tag on the desk said, Vicky. She looked up, and she had the most beautiful green eyes, with a cig between those red lips and sa......more