White Heat (1949)

White Heat
Directed by Raoul Walsh
Written by Ivan Goff and Bob Roberts; suggested by a story by Virginia Kellogg
1949/USA
Warner Bros.
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#227 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Verna Jarrett: It’s always “somebody tipped them.” Never “the cops are smart.”[/box]

I wish somebody had bottled James Cagney’s energy and stayed around to sell it to me! This is one of the all-time best gangster pictures and it’s 90% Cagney’s.

As the movie begins, Cody Jarrett (Cagney) and his gang pull off a train heist.  The leader’s psychopathic brutality is revealed by his gratuitous murders of the engineers and abandonment of one of his own men who was badly burned by steam during the robbery. Cody’s heart belongs to Ma Jarrett (Margaret Wycherly), who is the only one that can soothe the raging headaches that turn him into a wimpering baby.  She evidently had practice with Cody’s father, who died in an insane asylum.  Cody’s affection for his sexy, vulgar, lazy, two-timing wife Verna (perfectly portrayed by Virginia Mayo) is a distant second in his priorities.  He’d as soon give her a kick as a kiss.

The gang spends several weeks in hiding while Verna whines about not being able to have any fun with their money and makes eyes at second-in-command Big Ed (Steve Cochran). Finally, the cops take to trailing Ma using radio transmitters.  Cody decides to take the heat off by turning himself in for a minor robbery committed at the same time as the train job and serving a short prison sentence.

The cops are wise and assign veteran Hank Fallon (Edmond O’Brien) to masquerade as Vic Pardo, a fellow prisoner, and get close to Cody.  This works better than anyone could have imagined.  Pardo becomes a sort of substitute Ma for Cody in jail.  When the two eventually escape together Cody treats him like a brother.

After dealing with Big Ed’s treachery, Cody is up for his next job.  The boys have purchased an oil tanker they plan to use in a payroll heist at chemical plant.  Cody decides to use it as a Trojan Horse for an even bigger operation.  Fallon/Pardo tries to get the word out to the police while in constant danger of blowing his cover.  The movie has one of the most memorable endings in film history.  With Fred Clark as a money launderer.

I had seen this before and thought the movie might suffer from its fairly detailed coverage of police procedure.  Not so.  Walsh manages to keep the energy up even as we learn all about radio technology.  Cagney is simply brilliant.  He is as white hot as the title.  Mayo and Wycherly both wring every bit of juice out of their characters.  O’Brien makes a great straight man if not much more.  The many action sequences are gripping.  Highly recommended.

White Heat was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story.

Trailer

Clip – Cody’s reaction to bad news