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Fritz Lang: Control, Brutality and the Big Heat (1953)

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Fritz Lang: Control, Brutality and the Big Heat (1953) Fritz Lang: Control, Brutality and The Big Heat (1953) by Raquel Stecher By 1953, director Fritz Lang was nearing the end of his time in such a character and when these protagonists came face to face Hollywood. Having fed Nazi Germany in 1933, he made his way with corrupt authority fgures, it spoke greatly to Lang’s own to the City of Angels and inevitably made his mark on American experiences in Nazi Germany. Patrick McGilligan goes on to say flmmaking. He hopped from studio to studio, working with 20th that the lead character of Sgt. Bannion, played by Glenn Ford, Century Fox, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, MGM, RKO, “appealed powerfully to Lang’s own sense of frustration and and Paramount, as well as some independent productions with humiliation at being forced to leave Germany.” The character Walter Wanger and other producers. Lang dipped a toe in nearly of Bannion was transformed from McGivern’s original vision. every genre from war dramas, to westerns, to period pieces and Bannion in the novel was an erudite and highly educated even a pseudo-musical. But it was crime dramas, specifcally character. Boehm and Lang shaped Bannion’s character to make flm noir, where Lang excelled. One of his best was The Big Heat him more in tune with middle America. Through Bannion, Lang (1953), the frst of two flms he made during his contract with could ofer his own critique on corruption and repression. Lang Columbia Pictures. once said in an interview that he was interested in “either a dictatorship or a battle against society which in some instances tried to suppress or devour the individual. That struggle appears throughout my work, and is an essential part of it . .” Fritz Lang developed a reputation over the years, both in Germany and in the United States, as a controlling director. Everything had to be just right, down to the smallest detail. McGivern’s story took place in Philadelphia and Boehm transformed Bannion’s world into a nondescript American city, heightening the fear that the events in the story could occur anywhere. Further, flming on sets and not on location meant that Lang could exert more control over the world of the characters. Lang expert Joe McElhaney said, “Lang is less interested in showcasing the city than in controlling his mise-en-scene, being able to carefully storyboard and plan every detail, and work efciently within budget.” Other changes to the script included the removal of African-American Fritz Lang directs Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame characters and punching up Gloria Grahame’s dialogue. on the Big Heat set. Grahame, who plays gangster doll Debby Marsh in the flm, also had a say in the script. Having just won the Academy Award for The Big Heat was a crime novel written by William P. McGivern The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), she had high expectations for and serialized over a series of months from 1952-1953 in the her character. Her beau and future husband, writer Cy Howard Saturday Evening Post. Before the last chapter was published, contributed two notable lines of dialogue just for her character. Columbia’s studio chief Harry Cohn snapped up the flm rights The Big Heat is a particularly brutal and gruesome flm noir. and immediately put the project into development. The timing The corruption, immorality, violence, disfgurement, physical was perfect, as Fritz Lang had just been hired by the studio. Lang abuse, and revenge make it one of the darkest flms of its era. had been cleared of any suspicions that he was a Communist or Producer Robert Arthur, who took over from Jerry Wald, had had Communist ties, and escaped the cruel Hollywood blacklist a particularly tough time getting the flm passed by the Hays that not only put careers on hold but in many cases ruined lives. Ofce. Boehm and Lang worked to tone down the script and to Lang was free to continue with his work and producer Jerry Wald downplay Bannion’s romance with Debby. However, Lang was had reassigned him, taking Lang of one project and putting him adamant that the story’s brutality remain. One signifcant change on this one. According to Lang biographer Patrick McGilligan, was to not explicitly show the violenct acts. During key scenes “the director had to be acutely aware that The Big Heat ofered a including the opening suicide, car explosion, and the cofee pot chance at a new lease on his career.” disfgurement, instead of directing the camera to the action, it The Big Heat was a perfect ft for Lang. Revenge had been a looks away, showing reactions instead. This allowed Lang to common theme in his flms and this project had a particularly keep these scenes in the flm. satisfying revenge plot. Crime reporter turned screenwriter Filming began on March 14, 1953, was shot over four weeks Sydney Boehm was assigned to not only adapt McGivern’s and proved to be one of Lang’s fastest productions. Lang had novel to screen but to work closely with Lang to make sure the developed a reputation as a difcult director, but by 1953 he story suited the director. While it’s said that Lang’s contributions had mellowed out. His star Glenn Ford was one of Columbia’s to the script were minimal, there were signifcant changes made top talents and Lang appreciated the value Ford brought to the to McGivern’s original story that gave the flm a signature Lang production. Lang developed a fascination with Lee Marvin, who touch. Over the course of Lang’s flmography, it’s clear that plays the particularly evil gangster, Vince Stone. He admired he was fascinated with the everyman: an average Joe caught up in extraordinary circumstances. Audiences could relate to See FRITZ, continued on page 7 6 COMFORT, from page 1 Much like Lagana, Bertha Duncan (Jeanette Nolan) chooses an indirect approach, hurting others through her inaction. She She’s envious of his marriage, and the egalitarian (well, by mid- cries crocodile tears when Bannion takes her statement about her 1950s standards, anyway) relationship he shared with his wife. husband Tom’s apparent suicide, but bristles when he questions Only when she’s at her lowest point does Debby decide to take her about how much her husband paid for their vacation house Stone and Lagana with her (“The lid’s of the garbage can, and I (paid with Lagana’s money). Her deceased husband’s written did it.”). She remains one of The Big Heat’s unsung heroes; her confession, implicating police department ofcials and Lagana, redemption is her undoing, paying the ultimate sacrifce in the remains in a safe deposit box as leverage to continue blackmailing exchange. Lagana for a steady paycheck. But Bannion is wise to her game: “The city is being strangled by a gang of thieves, and you protect Lagana and Stone for the sake of a soft, plush life.” In a later scene, when Bannion refects that he should have killed Mrs. Duncan, Debby comments that it’s not in his nature – giving into his impulses wouldn’t make him any diferent from Stone. In the The Big Heat, the protagonist’s quest for justice is a lonely one, fraught with endless peril and tests of mettle. A web of corruption runs throughout the police department, while ofcers are paid to look the other way, leaving Lagana and his crime syndicate free to go about their nefarious activities. One man, Dave Bannion, refuses to bend to their will, and pays for it dearly. The lines between good and evil blur and enemies lurk around every corner, but Bannion’s plight isn’t as hopeless or foolhardy as it may seem. Emerging from the dark, there’s a light, reminding us that friends come from unlikely sources, and Mike Lagana is beyond redemption. conscience can prevail over comfort. Barry A. Polin is the proprietor of the eclectic flm blog Cinematic Fear is the prime motivator for some individuals’ complicity Catharsis (https://cinematiccatharsis.blogspot.com), covering a with Lagana. Dave Bannion’s boss, Lt. Ted Wilks (Willis wide range of genres and specializing in titles that may have Bouchey), to whom Bannion refers as “that leaning tower of slipped through the cracks. He works in higher education (so jelly,” is caught between the police sergeant’s idealism and the his counseling degree isn’t a total loss), and resides in the great commissioner’s (Howard Wendell) cynicism. He avoids friction Northwest with his family, along with a menagerie of pets. In his by not making waves, counting the days until he can start free time, he enjoys dabbling in photography and exploring the collecting his pension. His plight is not dissimilar to a junkyard outdoors. ( manager (Dan Seymour) and the barkeeper at The Retreat. Their casual exterior is only a veneer, concealing frightened animals. After Bannion rankles the feathers of Lagana, he feels the heat FRITZ, from page 6 from the commissioner, seen later playing poker with Stone and his men. Wilks appears content to sweep everything under the Marvin’s capabilities as an actor and Marvin gave Lang some rug, until he experiences an epiphany late in the flm (“It’s the of the most captivating scenes in the flm. The only person Lang frst time in years I’ve breathed good, clean air.”). butted heads with was Grahame, who was notoriously difcult and wanted more out of her role. At the opposite end of the spectrum reside those beyond redemption or the inclination to make a change for the better.
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