White Heat |  | Director: Raoul Walsh
Actors: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Margaret Wycherly, Steve Cochran
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
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Rating:  67 reviews
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 114 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: D67235D
ISBN: 1419803115
UPC: 012569672352
EAN: 9781419803116
Theatrical Release Date: 1949
Release Date: January 25, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com essential video
This superb 1949 crime drama takes elements of plot, character, and theme familiar from '30s melodramas and orchestrates them as an existential tragedy noir. James Cagney, in a towering performance, is Cody Jarrett, a transparently psychotic robber with a molten temper, feral cunning, and mercurial charm that are finely calibrated extensions of the doomed gangsters he played a decade before, this time coiled not around a Depression-era impetus of greed or class rivalry, but an Oedipal bond. Cody's beloved, calculating "Ma" (Margaret Wycherly) is the compass for his every move, her iron will and long shadow acknowledged not only by Cody but by his gang, his bored, restless wife (Virginia Mayo, radiating sensuality and guile), and the undercover cop (Edmond O'Brien) planted in Jarrett's path. Director Raoul Walsh propels the story from a rolling start, a tautly paced train robbery that goes awry, culminating in the leader's capture. An ambitious henchman (Steve Cochran) plots a behind-bars hit foiled by O'Brien, who's infiltrated the prison to befriend Jarrett, a goal handily accomplished with the rescue. Jarrett's paranoia, murderous anger, and longing for his mother are interwoven with intermittent, incapacitating headaches that underline and amplify his core of inner rage; Cagney makes these seizures harrowing, revealing purely animal pain and terror at once frightening and pathetic. Jarrett's escape, the gang's reunion with fellow escapee O'Brien aboard, trusted by Jarrett but not his partners, and the big score that unravels in a climactic gun battle in an oil refinery are conducted with a gritty economy, and Walsh and his cast evoke a criminal life devoid of glamour, noteworthy for the undercurrents of distrust that keep tempers flaring. The final showdown, and Jarrett's crazed, taunting battle cry in the face of death ("Top of the world, Ma!"), achieve a sense of tragic inevitability that deservedly make this a defining moment in Cagney's screen career. --Sam Sutherland
Product Description
After escaping from prison a psychopathic criminal leads his old gang in a chemicla plant payroll robbery. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 01/25/2005 Starring: James Cagney Virginia Mayo Run time: 113 minutes Rating: Nr
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 67
Psychopath November 14, 2009
Ron Braithwaite (El Indio, Texas United States)
Sometimes we love to hate a character but, in the case of Cody Jarret [Cagney], almost the reverse is true. We hate to 'love' such an incredible creature, but somehow we do. This film is a testimony not only to Cagney's skill as an actor but also to the wonderful direction of this remarkable film.
In Cody/Cagney we are presented with a complex, criminal character which, in its own way, asks a basic question about responsibility for crime; good/evil; and everything else. Cody is a contorted character. He has a family history of psychosis; his mother...the only close relationship [oedipal?] in his life...is an extraordinarily strong woman and, herself, a career criminal. On top of this, Cody suffers from headaches so severe as to practically burst his head apart. Cody is also psychopathically violent but, remarkably, intelligent and cunning.
He orchestrates his own conviction for a relatively minor crime so he can establish an alibi for a murder he actually did commit. The police, however, are pretty certain what he's up to and insert a policeman-informant...Hank Fallon/Edmund Obrien...into prison to get the evidence on Cody/Cagney that they need for a murder conviction.
In the meantime, however, 'Ma' is trying to hold Cody's gang together but her problem is complicated by the fact that Cody's slutty wife is having a calculating affair with 'Big Jim' who also wants to take over the gang. Through the wire mesh of the prisoner visiting room, 'Ma' tells Cody that she will 'take care of' Big Jim. This is the last thing Cody wants because he does not...under any circumstances...want to see his mother in danger. Not from the cops or Big Jim, himself. He must escape to protect his mother.
I won't attempt to retell this complex thriller but just have to mention the action packed climax. In a large, very modern looking, natural gas condensation plant, Cody's gang has a shoot out with dozens of cops. It's one heck of a place for a shoot out, if you think about it. Cody's gang is whittled down by gunfire. Finally it's just Cody/Cagney with one of his gang members. They are cornered and can't escape so, quite logically, Cody's 'friend' tries to surrender. The now thoroughly psychotic Cody/Cagney shoots him in the back. Why? No reason...just for the Hell of it.
Now Cody is alone and is shot...four times...with a big game rifle. Transported by the power of his psychosis, his body won't go down. "I'm at the top of the world, now, Ma!" he shouts as he shoots a huge, spherical gas containment cannister. The place goes up like an atomic bomb and Cody...like a disordered Viking hero...is incinerated in a Hiroshima-type ball of flame. Terrific.
I have to mention the use of sex in this film. In this case, 'sex' means the magnificent Virginia Mayo. It is used pointedly but intelligently. There are no bedroom scenes but with Mayo's acting, they are absolutely unnecessary. I especially liked the scene in which Cody/Cagney announces they are 'going to bed'. Mayo [who was a lot taller than Cagney] jumps up on his back like a little girl. Cagney/Cody 'piggybacks' her to the bedroom. I also liked it when the gang is discussing what they'll do with all the loot that they intend to steal. Mayo enters the conversation and tells them, "Money is only paper unless it's spent. We'll go to Paris and I'll be wrapped in a sable coat and I'll be dripping with expensive jewelry." Cody/Cagney doesn't disagree. As a criminal, which means basically an idiot, he seems to think that this a perfectly logical way to waste his money.
Great film
Ron Braithwaite, author of novels...'Skull Rack' and 'Hummingbird God'...on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico
Terrific gangster picture October 26, 2009
One-Line Film Reviews (Easton, MD)
The Bottom Line:
With a great performance by Cagney as a volatile and unpredictable gangster, a storyline that's much more complicated than your standard gangster's rise and fall, a welcome sense of misanthropy and cynicism, and a justly-famous ending, White Heat is a very impressive crime picture that holds up extremely well today and deserves to be seen by you, so see it.
3.5/4
White Heat October 7, 2009
Marla L. Ernest (Lindsay, CA USA)
Great movie. It's also great to be able to find those hard to find classic movies in an easy to use format.
white heat September 24, 2009
Felix Shaskan (arizona usa)
Cagney at his best. Strong performance. Good story . Good cast . Good entertainment. Although the film is 50 years old it does not matter. Anyone who enjoys sitting on the edge of their seat and doesn't mind black and white which I find pleasant for a change will enjoy this film..Violence, bad guys, good guys and a seductive moll played by Virginia Mayo and Alice Witcherly as Cody Jarret's[cagney] mother. If you like gangster films and you like Cagney this is a must see.
One Of The Top Ten Greatest Crime Flicks! August 9, 2009
John R. Dizon (Lee's Summit, Mo United States)
It had been a few years since James Cagney's "Public Enemy", and his song-and-dance skills had taken him to the top of the movie industry since that epic flick. Returning to the genre as Cody Jarrett provided moviegoers with a timeless performance that serious crime buffs can't afford to miss.
Virginia Mayo and Edmond O'Brien round out an outstanding cast that brings this rollercoaster ride through every harrowing twist and turn of a dynamic and visionary plot. Jarrett is the last of a dying breed, staging a train robbery in the opening scene before giving himself up on an unrelated charige to avoid a murder rap during the caper. The police, wise to his scheme, set Jarrett up with an informer (O'Brien) as one of his cellmates. Jarrett breaks out of prison with his jailhouse crew to rejoin his girlfriend (Mayo) and his old gang for one last heist guaranteed to take him to the 'top of the world'.
It's Cagney at his best...don't miss out, order a copy today!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 67
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