White Heat

I was watching an episode of "Coppers Get Their Man" type show. A gang of thieves wanted to steal the payroll of a chemical plant. They used a big rig tanker truck as a Trojan horse. But the copper had a undercover man in the gang. He rigged up a prehistoric G.P.S. and strapped it to the axle of the tanker trailer,so the coppers could track the truck. Needless to say,the gang came to a bullet ridden ,firey end. Robert Osterloh and Ian MacDonald drove the White big rig tanker truck. Robert Osterloh and Ian MacDonald were permanent A list actor. Virginia Mayo and Margeret Wycherly were hot. ---One truck Drivers Opinion--- erldwgstruckermovies.com

I think James Cagney's body of work is something to be very proud of and his loyal fans like myself are glad he made so many great films. Having said that I have watched this film three (3) times now and I just never got that good feeling that sometimes comes over me after watching a great crime film classic like (1972) The Godfather, (2015) Black Mass, (2012) The Iceman, and/or (1993) A Bronx Tale. I realize that I may be in the minority with my opinion but the film left me looking for quite a bit more in Cagney's mob boss character Cody Jarrett. The fixation with his "ma" was creative but for example, the scene in which Cody is in prison and whispers at the prison meal table to the guy sitting next to him who just got outside news that Cody's "ma" is dead was just so over the top that I found it to be too comical. I just could not see a mob boss after finding out his adorable "ma" is dead would scream out loud and literally crawl across the prison dinner table without anyone trying to stop him for acting like a big baby. I loved Virginia Mayo's portrayal as the selfish and beautiful blonde gun moll Virginia, wife of Cody Jarrett whose facial expressions when she observes the interactions between Cody and his mom provide us with her disdain for their relationship. No doubt, the film ending is a classic and extremely well done. I just was not so impressed with the other 110 minutes of the film.

If you're into Old Hollywood, and haven't gotten around to seeing "White Heat", remedy that right away! Nobody does 'gangster' like Cagney, and the screenplay by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts is one of their very best---a classic Warner Brothers crime melodrama, with a mother complex thrown in for its protagonist. When pictures like this are done well, they hold up in spite of the change in standards over time. "White Heat" is tough, even though its violence isn't explicitly shown and there isn't a cuss word in the whole thing. (Can you imagine? Today, even TV talk-show hosts drop f-bombs like gum wrappers. That's progress......) The "White Heat" DVD is available, including 2 commentaries by film historians Leonard Maltin and Drew Casper, in the fun "Warner Brothers Night at the Movies" package. It's the way it used to be when people went to a movie in the Golden Era---with coming attractions, 1949 newsreel, vintage Bugs Bunny cartoon, a comedy short, and the feature picture---with Cagney in his most explosive role. A must see for film buffs.

White Heat was something of a comeback for James Cagney. Curiously enough ever since his Oscar winning portrayal of George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy, Cagney's films had either not been all that great or were getting critical kudos, but no box office. By reinventing himself in the gangster genre, Cagney bounced back to the top of film stardom. Cody Jarrett is definitely the gangster redefined for Cagney. It's light years different from Tom Powers in Public Enemy. In those early Warner Brothers features, Cagney is a slum kid who's rising to the top through fists and brains, but he's not psychotic. Cody Jarrett gives us a whole new Cagney, a ruthless, incredibly shrewd head of a criminal gang with insanity galloping through his family. The insanity comes from his father, the brains from his mother. Margaret Wycherly got her career role in White Heat as Ma Jarrett. Obviously modeled on Ma Barker, she's one tough woman. And street smart. One of my favorite scenes is how she shakes the treasury tail that was put on her. It's only dumb luck that John Bryant, the agent in charge finds the motel that Wycherly, Cagney, and Virginia Mayo are staying. This was also a return to the slatternly roles for Virginia Mayo. She first was noticed in Samuel Goldwyn's The Best Years of Our Lives as Dana Andrews's trampy wife. After that she was playing good girls in lightweight stuff. Back as Cody's two timing wife, she gets the best role of her career as well. As FBI informer, Edmond O'Brien has the unenviable job of getting close to Jarrett. The plot of the film has Cagney turning himself in on a minor robbery charge to avoid being tagged for the robbery at the beginning of the film of a U.S. mail train where four people are killed. The feds don't believe it so O'Brien who apparently specializes in going into prison to mix among the cons and gain information, gets the job of going undercover in Joliet prison in Illinois to get close to Cagney. He succeeds, but the plans take a different and sudden turn which you will have to see the film for. Even in today's world which certainly has more explicit cinema violence than back in 1949. White Heat is not for the squeamish. But you will feel the tension every minute. And that climax......... Well didn't he make it to the top of the gangster world. Ma was probably very proud.

White Heat" shows the influence of film noir that was so popular in the 40's an 50's. Here, Cagney's gangster persona has come full circle back to the viciousness of Tom Powers in "Public Enemy". The big difference is that in this film Cagney's mother is no cream puff. She is, in fact, probably a bigger criminal in thought if not in deed than Cagney's Cody Jarrett. This late entry into Cagney's gangster filmology shows technology and thus the law gaining on the criminal, with electronic gadgets and undercover lawmen with college degrees in psychology replacing the determined hard-boiled detectives and beat cops of the past. It very much looks forward to the Dragnet series that is to emerge in the 50's. Virginia Mayo plays Verna, the fur coat loving unfaithful wife to Cagney's psychopathic criminal character Cody Jarrett. She has the hots for a member of Cody's gang, Big Ed (Steve Cochran). Even with his dark menacing presence, Cochran acts like a scared rabbit at the idea of dealing with Cody's wrath - Cagney has that much screen presence here. Edmund O'Brien is great as the undercover cop who has to stay on his toes to keep Cody believing he is on his side and win his confidence. Anything less than a convincing performance would be deadly. O'Brien always impressed me as someone who, like Cagney, could play either a guy with a white or black hat, depending on what the role called for. Best scene without giving away the ending. Cody chewing on a chicken leg asking a guy in the trunk of the car how he's doing. When he complains it is stuffy Cody pumps the trunk full of lead. He now has the air he needs, not that he is in any condition to breathe anymore.

Cody Jarrett (James Cagney) is a violent, psychopathic outlaw and the ringleader of a group that robs a train headed for California, in this noir gangster film written in semi-documentary style. As a killer, Cody is the bad guy. Yet, he must confront enemies that in some ways are even worse. He must deal with traitors inside his own gang. He also must outwit a much more difficult enemy, the U.S. government, which uses lies and deceit to trap him. And so by comparison, viewers sympathize with Cody, a strait shooter and basic loner who, though pugnacious, is tough, pragmatic, smart, and gutsy. Cody draws inspiration from his mama (Margaret Wycherly) who tags along with the gang, cooking and shopping. While trust is hard to come by among gang members, Ma Jarrett and Cody psychologically depend upon, and reinforce, each other. Mom eggs her son on, and at one point intones: "You're the smartest there is, Cody". And when mom says she could have made a mistake, Cody responds: "Your hunches are never wrong, Ma". Hints of Freud, maybe? When Cody uses prison as a way to avoid a more serious rap, the Fed sends in an undercover detective who assumes the name of Vic Pardo (Edmond O'Brien), to trap Cody and get inside info on the gang. One of my complaints about the script is that Pardo doesn't act like a real prisoner; he acts like an undercover cop. And so the character just isn't believable. Yet the Pardo character and some inserted plot twists keep the story moving to its less than realistic conclusion. Another problem is the script's prison interlude segment. It's too long and too talky. This section could have been cut in half and still maintained essential plot points. B&W cinematography is acceptable but nothing special. Background score is too loud and intrusive most of the time. Production design is largely invisible, which is what we would expect for a 1940s crime film. Casting is okay. And the acting is somewhat above average, with the best performances coming from Cagney and Wycherly. "White Heat" is really a James Cagney cinematic vehicle. The entire plot revolves around his character and his relationship to those who come into his orbit. Though this is a fine character study, and Cagney gives a fine performance, the overall story is a bit dull and tedious for me.

Sure James Cagney, as the psychotic Cody Jarrett (a regular, little momma's boy and migraine-headache victim), may have been "On top of the world!" in terms of his own overall exhilaration - Yeah. That he may have been - But, for me, while watching White Heat, I certainly wasn't anywhere near that level of nirvana, myself - No. Not by a long shot. Over the years I have been told, time and again, that White Heat was, in fact, a true "Classic" of 1940s Crime films. Well, in my opinion, the only way that I could ever call White Heat a "Classic" would be solely in terms of its disappointment factor. I mean, to be fair, White Heat wasn't awful, but, then again, by the same token, it sure didn't live up to its "so-called" legendary reputation, either. For one thing - White Heat was way-way too long for my liking. About a good half an hour could've easily been trimmed from its running time. Yeah. That whole inexplicable focus on Cody's stay in prison became totally tedious beyond words. Another disappointment in White Heat was Cagney's less-than-electrifying performance as the psychotic suck, Cody Jarrett. I mean - A few face-slaps here, a couple of "Shuddups!" there, some agonized head-holding, and a string of predictable wisecracks certainly didn't add up to a very interesting character, in my books. Cagney was 50 at the time of this film, and if his character was really supposed to be this insanely devoted momma's boy that he was, then I could never-ever, in a zillion years, be convinced that he could've ever landed himself such a hot, young and (fairly) understanding wife like Verna (even if she was just two-faced white-trash). No way, Jose. Like, please spare me having to suspend disbelief about Cody by that much. OK? All-in-all - White Heat was mediocre movie-entertainment. Like - C'mon, all you vintage movie fans out there - Let's face it - There are, by far, so many other 40s Crime films out there that can, and do, surpass this one by a literal country mile.

**spoilers** While reading the comments for this movie, I was shocked to find that not a single person had anything bad to say about it. Now, I liked the movie, but calling it the greatest or even among the greatest gangster movies of all time is absolutely ludicrous. I found it to be a pretty well put together cops and robbers thriller that had some exciting moments and some good scenes. However, Cagney's acting is completely unworthy of all the accolades it has gotten. He's wooden and uninteresting at all moments when he's trying to show any emotion beyond crazy. For example, when he finds out his mother has been murdered, he staggers around a little and punches some guards, as I'm sure the director instructed him to, but you get no sense of any sadness. Also, why bother showing the extent to which he takes the undercover cop under his wing only to have the cop coolly put four bullets from a sniper rifle at him without so much as a blink to show that he regrets having to do it. I guess what I'm saying is that if this movie were robot theater, where emotions are of no importance, it would be terrific, but as a human I just wanted a little more.

No one but James Cagney could play infamous gangsters like he could. Already famous for smashing a half-grapefruit on Mae Clarke's face in THE PUBLIC ENEMY, he had an appropriate bracket as another low-life in Raoul Walsh's ultra-gritty crime caper WHITE HEAT. Breaking ground for even more creepy criminals, Cagney plays Cody Jarrett, a man who wants to be on 'top of the world' and is dominated to incestuous excess by his she-wolf of a mother, Ma Jarrett (modeled on Ma Barker and played to excellence by Margaret Wycherly). These two are not people you would want to cross: Cody is capable of acts of extreme violence, and Ma Jarrett will go to great lengths to protect her son. She has even less fear then he. Both are the equivalent of Bonny and Clyde without the romantic liaison. Such so that the Feds decide to keep an intense eye on them by sending one of theirs, Hank Fallon, disguised as a common crook Vic Pardo. Both land in jail and an uneasy but increasingly dependent friendship develops, one that gets closer when Ma Jarrett dies and Cody simply goes bonkers -- in losing her, he has lost himself and this now bumps Fallon a notch closer to Cody who turns the tables of trust on him. Both bust out of prison to perform another money-making heist that has quite a different outcome than originally planned. The power of WHITE HEAT lies less on duplicities and double-crosses: other than the revelation that Cody's own wife Verna (Virginia Mayo, electrifying) was the person who offed his mother (off-screen), what matters if the relationship that the two men develop. Ed O'Brien as Fallon/Pardo seems slimier at times than James Cagney's Cody Jarrett -- his character is used to this sort of thing, living among criminals, playing the undercover cop -- and he knows all the stops to trump Cagney when the time comes. His role is actually more difficult than Cagney's because he has to underplay his part and walk on eggshells while around him, and we know that ultimately it will be revealed who he is and that Cagney will not be a happy camper at realizing this overwhelming betrayal. Featuring one of the best endings (and most quoted movie lines in film history), WHITE HEAT has gone to universal acclaim and has been referenced in its template when tackling crime dramas.

Well... O.K.! I'm gonna say the same things than the other IMDB users! After some fine films as an actor producer in the 1940's, great James Cagney returns to the type of role he doesn't want to be anymore : a gangster! Perhaps he was knowing that this time should be the last time, because he's adding and adding some meaness to his character. Cagney, as a gangster, was never so great in a movie! He's mad, dangerous, he's everything - and more! - we want to see from a Hollywood gangster! Adding to that a very good cast, with superb Virginia Mayo in one of the best women's gangster movie role. Add some solid and masculine work by director Raoul Walsh and we have perhaps the best gangster movie of all time. And of course, there's the finale nobody wants to forget... Did I say the same things? Yes? That's one more good reason to see this film!