White Heat

Starring: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Margaret Wycherly, Steve Cochran, John Archer, Wally Cassell, Fred Clark
Directed: Raoul Walsh
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Action, Drama
1949

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A police detective (Edmond O'Brien) goes undercover in a prison to nab a psychotic criminal (James Cagney) doing minor time to escape his real crimes.

Review:

I almost can't believe how good White Heat is. I'd seen five James Cagney movies before this one and several were good, but none I'd consider especially close to great. Here, Raoul Walsh directs one of the best gangster movies of the 1940s, one of the better film noirs of the decade, an instant classic. It's an especially tight, intense film that has layers of complexity to it. I was riveted from the very beginning, up to its explosive finale. When you're talking great movies, this one is undoubtedly on the list.

I love that Cagney clearly played the villain here. I know he's straddled that line in previous films, playing a sympathetic villain, trying to show a more human, troubled quality to some of his characters. Here, that's not the plan at all. Cody Jarrett is a psychopath, a brutal criminal. We're not meant to sympathize and support him. Cagney throws himself into this character, delivering the best performance I've seen yet. The film opens in exciting fashion with a train robbery, but Cody Jarrett soon displays the brutality that makes his character so unique. I was quite surprised to see this depicted on screen in 1949. From the train sequence where he murders people in cold blood, to the car trunk scene, throughout the film, Cody is irredeemable. The film presents him as a force of nature, a relentless criminal who doesn't flinch before committing a heinous crime. The violence in this film really stood out to me. That's spectacular to show that in the 1940s and unforgettable in the hands of Cagney. Cody Jarrett becomes this larger-than-life character in his hands and we're fascinated by him. We never know what he'll do next.

This is so critical to the film, because we quickly identify with and like Edmond O'Brien's character. The idea of voluntarily going undercover in prison with murders and psychopaths is such a startling move. I really reflected on what kind of man would willingly do this, go into a place where life is cheap and most of your follow prisoners have experience extinguishing it. O'Brien's character is in constant danger, not just from ordinary prison life, but by being a policeman in that place. Any revelation of his true identity would spell instant death. That is exceptionally intense and the film does a terrific job of ratcheting up those thrills. It helps that O'Brien gives a stunningly good performance. He's believable in this role, but manages to differentiate himself from the actual villains he surrounds himself with. We care about his character and we want him to make it out safely. The pairing of O'Brien and Cagney was terrific. I know the studio advertised this just as a Cagney film, and their reasoning makes sense. But, make no mistake- O'Brien is every bit as important as Cagney is to this film. It's their pairing and their interactions that make this film a must-see.

I thought Virginia Mayo was good in her role. I'd only seen her in one other film and she didn't do anything remarkable in that one. I don't think her performance was great here, but it was good enough. Margaret Wycherly is fantastic, though. As Cody's mother, her presence looms larger throughout the film. Their unhealthy relationship is a big driver of the story and you believe everything Cody's ma does because of Wycherly's effective performance. She was fantastic. John Archer adds a nice supporting performance. The whole cast is good and well leveraged in this film.

The movie is incredibly intense- Walsh keeps the story moving at an impressive clip. The movie is 1 hour, 54 minutes, but doesn't really have any fat. The story feels big and uses its time wisely to build momentum until the final crescendo. There's so many close calls throughout the film, so many moments that hold our attention. You have the opening train robbery. The chase through the small town and Cody's fateful decision. The story then moves into prison, and those scenes are riveting. There's starts and stops and it's all so intense. Then, on the outside again, the momentum continues as Cody and his gang get ready for the biggest job of their lives. The climax is unforgettable. I absolutely loved the film's most iconic line, one of the all-time greatest movie lines- "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" My goodness, it's breathtaking.

White Heat is a fantastic film noir, one of the greatest gangster movies of this era. It was only nominated for 1 Academy Award, for Best Story. I'm glad it received one nomination, but it absolutely deserved more. Cagney was robbed of a nomination and O'Brien deserved one, too. You could easily argue Wycherly deserved a Supporting Actress one, too. Walsh could have been nominated for Best Director- the movie is that good. Despite all this, this movie looms large over the late 1940s. It's one of the best films of that era.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8



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