Movie Review – White Heat

White Heat (1949) – James Cagney stars with Virginia Mayo and Edmond O’Brien in one of the great gangster movies of all time.  Cody Jarrett (Cagney) is a psychopath with mother issues.  He leads a gang of robbers and murderers on an extensive crime spree with his girlfriend Verna (Mayo).  Ma Jarrett is Cody’s only real friend and helps him deal with the headaches that lay him low.  Undercover Treasury Agent Hank Fallon (O’Brien) ingratiates himself with Cody while in jail, then joins the gang when they’re both sprung.  Along the way they will meet the mysterious “Trader” who helps Cody with the stolen cash, there’s betrayal, Cody will lose someone close to him all leading to an iconic conclusion.

Raoul Walsh got a solid script and a great cast and works his magic to create a classic.  Throw in a soundtrack by Max Steiner (“Gone With the Wind”, “Casablanca”, “The Caine Mutiny” among many, many others) and you have the core of a great music.  There are two sterling scenes in this movie – the final scene at the chemical plant (I won’t spoil it for you) and the scene in the prison mess hall where Cody flips out.  The second scene wasn’t in the script.  Cagney approached Walsh and said he had an idea.  Legend says that Walsh had no idea what was about to happen, set up a bunch of cameras and let Cagney go.  What he gets is one of the great scenes of all time.

We tend to think that movie gangsters in the old days were more low key than today.  In Cody Jarrett we have someone who could give Tony Montana a run for his money when it comes to uncontrollable violence.  At one point he repeatedly shoots a man while calmly eating friend chicken.

This is a fabulous Cagney vehicle.  It’s easy to forget that when the movie was made Mayo was a huge star at Warner Brothers in her own right.  Filled with great performances this is a movie to savor.

Rating -***** Must See