White Heat (1949)

In his last role as a heartless gangster, James Cagney embarks on the prison break of a lifetime in this chilling tale that features one of the most riveting finales in movie history. Studio description

"Let's play him as screwy."

After a decade long absence from the gangster genre, James Cagney comes roaring back in this Raoul Walsh classic. For a change of pace from his previous films of this type (ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES, PUBLIC ENEMY, ROARING TWENTIES, et al) Walsh and Cagney decided to play the character as being completely nuts. Is he ever! Cody Jarrett is a homicidal killer with a mother fixation and violent headaches. In one scene where Jarrett is dealing with a stool-pigeon he has locked in the trunk of his getaway car, he's calmly eating fried chicken when the man in the trunk protests he can't breath. "Oh, you need air?" He then pulls out his .45 automatic and ventilates the trunk (or boot if you are a Brit). He plugs a train engineer because one of his men blurts out his name. "You got a good memory for names," he says before he shoots the guy, kicks Virginia Mayo (who has never looked more beautiful and alluring) off a chair and ends in the famous "top of the world" finale. For films of this sort, it doesn't get better. Also starring is Virginia Mayo as Verna Jarrett, his wife, Edmund O'Brien as Vic Pardo (a federal agent who infiltrates Jarrett's gang) , Steve Cochran as the scheming Big Ed Somers and Margaret Wycherly -- who was SGT York's mom in the Gary Cooper classic -- as Ma Jarrett, the mother from hell who's "Always looking out for my Cody." The final scene is probably the best remembered line from the movie: "Made it Ma! Top of the world!" July 16, 2008

Sizzle- for - shizzle , Ma !

I try not to become exorbinate with words on my film reviews and edit it down to thirty words or less. I don't have that problem here. I can sum it up in five.

James Cagney at his best.


Then again...that's three words and name. But who's reading the fine print ? My bad , you are. :) And since you are....get this gangster classic ! June 23, 2008

See What An Overprotective Mother Can Do To You !!!

I am viewing Warner Bros. wonderful "Gangster" collection, featuring mostly Cagney movies and this classic like the others in the set, all are high quality transfers and extras simulating an entree of features a moviegoer would sit through in the 1930's and the 1940's, a preview cartoon and a newsreel are the extras besides the feature and the feature with commentary.
As in the case of White Heat, we have an older James Cagney, meaner than the lovelorn somewhat sensitive gangster of "The Roaring 20's", a mature insane more cutthroat killer than found in the early "Public Enemy" giving this flick a decidedly modern twist with the psychological underpinnings of an overbearing Mother causing hypochondiac headaches in Cagney, as well as his inability to enter into any meaningful relationship with people.
The motive here is not just greed and power but viciousness,anger at betrayal and the rumblings of insanity beneath his surface.
When Cagney's world crumbles so must everyone Else's.
Other's have dealt with the story and all I can add is that this classic is entertaining and a must see.

March 28, 2008

Perfect Gangster film till "The Godfather"...

James Cagney was a force in Hollywood during the first half of the 20th century. He put out numerous films that set the stage for acting schools to pop culture references that it's a shame he isn't remember today like some of the other actors in his generation. Probably the highlight of this period of his film career is 1949's White Heat, a film about a gangster whose Oedipus complex is least of his problems.

The movie follows the fall of Cody Jarrett, a psychopathic gang leader with a seesaw for emotions for everyone but his mother (Margaret Wycherly, who also played Alvin York's mother is Sergeant York¬) who soothes Jarrett's raging headaches and counsels him on how to run his gang. When the feds get close to Jarrett for a train robbery he pulls, he claims to have done a different crime in Illinois at the same time to get the heat off from the feds. While in prison, Jarrett's leading competitor in the gang, Big Ed (Steve Cochran) and his wife, Verna (Virgina Mayo) betray Jarrett and try to take over the gang and kill Jarrett's mother. While in prison, the feds plant a mole in Jarrett's cell to become friends with Jarrett and get info from him about the train robbery. Jarrett soon learns about the gang take over and breaks out of jail with his cell mates including the mole and head back to take revenge on Big Ed and those responsible for his mother's death.
To me, this movie is what The Shootist was to John Wayne, a final opus to a type of character that an actor is known for. Cody Jarrett is noting more than the full grown up version of Cagney's other criminal characters he played in classics like The Pubic Enemy, Mayor of Hell, and my personal favorite Angles with Dirty Faces. Cagney's character is on the verge of cracking mentally from the beginning but he doesn't let this destroy his plans and is very cold hearted to those around him. The stand out cafeteria scene in the prison is one to show any acting class on improvisation (its been said that no one was happy with the scripted scene so Cagney came up with his own idea and told the director to just keep rolling while he did his act).
The performance of the law enforcement officers in the movie is nothing special. Really, in films like these, they rarely are anything more than monotone stiffed shirted men out to crash the gangster's party. However, the role of Hank Fallon (Fed)/Vic Pardo (con), played by Edmond O'Brien breathes life into this role. His Hank Fallon is a wise cracking man who enjoys fishing and time off but puts all aside to play mole to criminals in prisons around the country. I enjoyed his characters on screen and his Vic Pardo made a welcome anchor for Jarrett in the second half of the film.
Of course, the famous scene that everyone knows is the ending where, on a buring chemical tank, Jarrett shouts "Made it, top of the World Ma!" before his fiery demise. Jarrett may run his gang but its his mother who pulls the strings. Ma Jarrett is a cold and calculating woman who deserved much more story than she got. She coddles Jarrett from her first scene and when Jarrett and Pardo speak of their wives and the "needs" they fulfill, Jarrett can only think of his mother and blows off Verna, his beautiful wife. Really, in Jarrett's mind, he only needs his mother because with her he built a powerful west coast gang, but in his first job without her, he is killed along with all members of his gang.

Verna, Jarrett's wife doesn't really deserve sympathy for the lack of love Jarrett shows her. It's clear early on that she is getting side action from Big Ed and she constantly is prodding Ed to kill Jarrett and take over the gang. Once Jarrett is in prison, Ed tries to have one of his accomplices in the prison kill Jarrett but he is saved by Pardo and allows them to become fast friends. Big Ed is Jarrett without a guide in the film. While Jarrett had his mother to guide him and look out for him, Big Ed has Verna who flips sides more often than a coin being tossed. In the end, Ed meets his fate and Verna survives only to get the perfect send up by the feds at the end.

In the end, this is the perfect gangster film till The Godfather was filmed. It provides a great lead character with such a strong supporting cast that you wish the film was longer to provide more story and action.
November 20, 2007

Cagney-White Heat

James Cagney at his best! He put the G in ganster. Besides Yanky Doodle Dandy this is one of James Cagney's greatest movies. October 20, 2007

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