James Cagney and director Raoul Walsh teamed up for another gangster movie at Warner Brothers, ten years after "The Roaring Twenties". That film had been a nostalgic look at the decade it portrayed as well as a crime film and was relatively lush and leisurely compared to the trio of films that had begun the genre, "Little Caesar", "The Public Enemy" and "Scarface". Cagney, like any lead actor, did not want to be stereotyped in a particular type of role, and had sworn off gangster parts. At first he didn't want to do another gangster role and Jack Warner, who didn't like him, did not want him back. But the writers and director wanted only him for the role and all involved finally agreed..
"White Heat" is only a distant cousin to the gangster films of the past. A decade's worth of changes had gone by, a decade that had included the Second World War and technological developments in film making and in nearly every aspect of life. This film is set in contemporary times, not the Prohibition Era. It's not about the rise of a gang kingpin or gang wars over control of city territory. It begins with a train robbery, more like a cowboy movie than a gangster film. And that's what Cody Jarrett's gang most resembles, a roving gang of outlaws ready to do whatever job comes their way. They're also purely robbers or bandits, not involved in any kind of illegal trade.
Right from the beginning we learn that Cody Jarrett is cold and ruthless, killing on the slightest provocation, and ready to abandon injured associates. There's something crazy about him that sets him off even from his own gang members, all of whom fear him. That's the basis of his power - he's so unstable, you never know what he will do if you anger him. The rest of the setup is soon revealed back home, where Cody's gang hides out and where we find, both Cody's wife and mother live. His wife, Verna, played by the beautiful Virginia Mayo, adds a feeling of noir to the film that is unexpected. She's already seen giving looks to number two man, Big Ed, and is faithful to whoever seems on top at the moment. She's beautifully played as a moll with social pretensions, imagining "living big" and hobnobbing with countesses. She's as rotten as the rest of them and the relationship with Cody is none too sweet; just watch how he reacts when she tells him Ma went out to get strawberries for him.
Cody's love is all reserved for Ma (Margaret Wycherly). Mothers of hoods were portrayed as sweet, unconditionally loving immigrant women in the earlier gangster films, but this mother is one tough cookie. If she were a man, she'd probably have her own gang. As it is, she's the real brains of the outfit. She advises Cody on strategy, evades police pursuits and praises Cody's cleverness for thinking up a way to not take the rap for the train job. It's her gang as much as his. "Ma" recalls Ma Barker, and that's who she resembles as an inner part of the gang.
On his part, Cody worships her in an intense, obsessive way. He also gets severe headaches that send him into a sort of fugue state that only Ma can get him out of. The movie doesn't delve deeply into this, but offers some clues, noting that his seizures began as he faked headaches in order to get attention from his mother, then they became real. Treasury Agent Philip Evans (John Archer) notes, "His mother's been the prop that's held him up.. He's got a fierce, psychopathic devotion for her". It's a unique situation in a gangster film and adds an extra layer of complexity to Cody's makeup.
Evans decides to send Agent Hank Fallon, posing as convict Vic Pardo, to get close to Cody and find out who "The Trader" is. The Trader exchanges hot, stolen bills for fresh ones on the European black market and also has a hand in planning the heists. This adds more suspense as there are a number of tense moments when Fallon risks being exposed. There's also a lot of showing off the new technology of the time, technology that looks quaint now but must have wowed the audience in 1949; imaging being able to track the location of a moving car with absolute precision. Cody and the gang had no idea what they were up against.
Everyone involved is absolutely excellent. Raoul Walsh was known for keeping movies straightforward and direct, and he does that here, with not a moment of the nearly two hour film dragging. An example is when Cody starts to tell his gang the story of the Trojan Horse; the camera cuts away long before he's finished because the director knew everyone knew how it went. Virginia Mayo, who was often used only decoratively, showed she could really create a devious character and could shift emotions and facial expressions in a second. Edmund O'Brian also has a plumb role here as the man who has to work his way into the confidence of a paranoid.
But of course there's Cagney. It's his film and he's a bundle of explosive energy that keeps the whole thing moving. He had the knack, in some way that great actors have, of doing something between themselves and the camera that can't be pinpointed. Another actor could have the same lines and not do what he did with them. Even in the quieter scenes he has an almost frightening intensity. You know that at any moment he could go totally crazy and explode into some kind of violence. The film has two of his most memorable scenes, scenes so famous that they are known outside the context of the film itself.
"White Heat " caused a great deal of controversy in its day. Cody Jarrett struck a nerve as a kind of primordial force on the loose. Similarly in society, with the war over, the times were changing and no one knew just what might happen in the approaching 1950s. The universe of the film itself was unrelenting and unforgiving. It's telling that the one truly humane moment in the film, when the hood Cottonvalletti gives the injured gang member Zuckie a pack of cigarettes, it's that act of kindness that sets off everyone's demise. By the time the film's finale arrives it has nowhere to go but to blow itself up.
"White Heat" is only a distant cousin to the gangster films of the past. A decade's worth of changes had gone by, a decade that had included the Second World War and technological developments in film making and in nearly every aspect of life. This film is set in contemporary times, not the Prohibition Era. It's not about the rise of a gang kingpin or gang wars over control of city territory. It begins with a train robbery, more like a cowboy movie than a gangster film. And that's what Cody Jarrett's gang most resembles, a roving gang of outlaws ready to do whatever job comes their way. They're also purely robbers or bandits, not involved in any kind of illegal trade.
Right from the beginning we learn that Cody Jarrett is cold and ruthless, killing on the slightest provocation, and ready to abandon injured associates. There's something crazy about him that sets him off even from his own gang members, all of whom fear him. That's the basis of his power - he's so unstable, you never know what he will do if you anger him. The rest of the setup is soon revealed back home, where Cody's gang hides out and where we find, both Cody's wife and mother live. His wife, Verna, played by the beautiful Virginia Mayo, adds a feeling of noir to the film that is unexpected. She's already seen giving looks to number two man, Big Ed, and is faithful to whoever seems on top at the moment. She's beautifully played as a moll with social pretensions, imagining "living big" and hobnobbing with countesses. She's as rotten as the rest of them and the relationship with Cody is none too sweet; just watch how he reacts when she tells him Ma went out to get strawberries for him.
Cody's love is all reserved for Ma (Margaret Wycherly). Mothers of hoods were portrayed as sweet, unconditionally loving immigrant women in the earlier gangster films, but this mother is one tough cookie. If she were a man, she'd probably have her own gang. As it is, she's the real brains of the outfit. She advises Cody on strategy, evades police pursuits and praises Cody's cleverness for thinking up a way to not take the rap for the train job. It's her gang as much as his. "Ma" recalls Ma Barker, and that's who she resembles as an inner part of the gang.
On his part, Cody worships her in an intense, obsessive way. He also gets severe headaches that send him into a sort of fugue state that only Ma can get him out of. The movie doesn't delve deeply into this, but offers some clues, noting that his seizures began as he faked headaches in order to get attention from his mother, then they became real. Treasury Agent Philip Evans (John Archer) notes, "His mother's been the prop that's held him up.. He's got a fierce, psychopathic devotion for her". It's a unique situation in a gangster film and adds an extra layer of complexity to Cody's makeup.
Evans decides to send Agent Hank Fallon, posing as convict Vic Pardo, to get close to Cody and find out who "The Trader" is. The Trader exchanges hot, stolen bills for fresh ones on the European black market and also has a hand in planning the heists. This adds more suspense as there are a number of tense moments when Fallon risks being exposed. There's also a lot of showing off the new technology of the time, technology that looks quaint now but must have wowed the audience in 1949; imaging being able to track the location of a moving car with absolute precision. Cody and the gang had no idea what they were up against.
Everyone involved is absolutely excellent. Raoul Walsh was known for keeping movies straightforward and direct, and he does that here, with not a moment of the nearly two hour film dragging. An example is when Cody starts to tell his gang the story of the Trojan Horse; the camera cuts away long before he's finished because the director knew everyone knew how it went. Virginia Mayo, who was often used only decoratively, showed she could really create a devious character and could shift emotions and facial expressions in a second. Edmund O'Brian also has a plumb role here as the man who has to work his way into the confidence of a paranoid.
But of course there's Cagney. It's his film and he's a bundle of explosive energy that keeps the whole thing moving. He had the knack, in some way that great actors have, of doing something between themselves and the camera that can't be pinpointed. Another actor could have the same lines and not do what he did with them. Even in the quieter scenes he has an almost frightening intensity. You know that at any moment he could go totally crazy and explode into some kind of violence. The film has two of his most memorable scenes, scenes so famous that they are known outside the context of the film itself.
"White Heat " caused a great deal of controversy in its day. Cody Jarrett struck a nerve as a kind of primordial force on the loose. Similarly in society, with the war over, the times were changing and no one knew just what might happen in the approaching 1950s. The universe of the film itself was unrelenting and unforgiving. It's telling that the one truly humane moment in the film, when the hood Cottonvalletti gives the injured gang member Zuckie a pack of cigarettes, it's that act of kindness that sets off everyone's demise. By the time the film's finale arrives it has nowhere to go but to blow itself up.
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