Recommended reading - The Big Heat

 

The Big Heat

by William P. McGivern.

First published 1953.
Published by Ibooks.
Paperback.
ISBN-10: 0743452704
ISBN-13: 978-0743452700

Description:
A tough suspense novel of hero cops, cool killers and hot broads...
“A powerful story, powerfully told.” – New York Times.

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. It started almost innocently when a cop committed suicide – worry over ill health, said his wife. Detective Dave Bannion wasn’t so sure, but when he started digging, he was told to lay off – fast! Instead, he turned in his badge and started stalking the city streets and bars in search of the truth where he uncovers a red-hot story of murder and corruption that would blow Philadelphia’s underworld sky high. Bannion was big, strong, and angry enough to kill, but he was only one honest man in a city full of mobsters and crooked cops. The big heat was on.

On this day in movie history - The Big Heat (1953)

The Big Heat

directed by Fritz Lang,

written by Sydney Boehm, and 

based on the novel by William P. McGivern,

and the serial that ran in the Saturday Evening Post,

was released in the United States on October 14, 1953.

Music by Henry Vars.

Cast:

Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby, Lee Marvin, Jeanette Nolan, Peter Whitney, Willis Bouchey, Robert Burton, Adam Williams, Howard Wendell, Dorothy Green.

On this day in movie history - Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)

Odds Against Tomorrow

directed by Robert Wise,

written by Abraham Polonsky and Nelson Gidding,

based on the novel by William P. McGivern,

was released in the United States on October 13, 1959.

Music by John Lewis.

Cast:

Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters, Ed Begley, Gloria Grahame, Will Kuluva, Kim Hamilton, Mae Barnes, Richard Bright, Carmen De Lavallade, Lew Gallo, Lois Thorne, Wayne Rogers, Zohra Lampert, Allen Nourse.

Born on this day – William P. McGivern:

Writer

December 6, 1918 – November 18, 1982

Credits:

But Death Runs Faster / The Whispering Corpse (1948); Heaven Ran Last (1949); Very Cold for May (1950); Shield for Murder (1951); Blondes Die Young (1952); The Crooked Frame (1952); The Big Heat (1953); Margin of Terror (1953); Rogue Cop (1954); The Darkest Hour / Waterfront Cop (1955); The Seven File / Chicago-7 (1956); Night Extra (1957); Odds Against Tomorrow (1957); Mention My Name in Mombasa (1958); Savage Streets (1959); Seven Lies South (1960); The Road to the Snail (1961); A Pride of Place (1962); A Choice of Assassins (1963); The Caper of the Golden Bulls (1966); Lie Down, I Want to Talk to You (1967); Caprifoil (1972); Reprisal (1973); Night of the Juggler (1975); Soldiers of '44 (1979); The Seeing (1980); Summit (1982); War Games (1984); A Matter of Honor (1984); Killer On the Turnpike (1961); The Science Fiction Collection 3 (2018); Convoy to Atlantis (1941); Send Along a Wreath (2019); The Judas Valley (2008); Police Special (1962); We, the Machine / Planet of Dread (2012); Black Cat Weekly #83 (2023).