Review of White Heat (1949) by Blake P — 17 Aug 2011

Wow. That was good. Cody Jarrett (Cagney) is a psychopathic killer, with mother (like a Norman Bates) on his mind. He leads a gang into doing everything, with mother and his tough-talking, two timing wife (Mayo) and his buddies.

But everything gets a shade darker when a cop (OBrien) is sent as a T-Man to get Cody to tell him where the hidden loot is. It's all fun and games, but then there's that climatic ending. "White Heat" is often considered not only as being the best of the Warner Bros.

gangster movies, but as one of Cagney's best performances in general. Everyone got that right: he is terrific and totally believable. A few of the gangsters he played he was charming and sympathetic, but here, nothing at all.

You want him to have a bad fate, which makes his performance so much memorable. Mayo is top-notch as the femme fatale. Most actresses who had the female roles in the gangster movies (Jean Harlow, Ann Sheridan, Priscilla Lane, and Ida Lupino) got propelled to stardom, but the most seemed to have come to Mayo.

The reason why: she's the most talented of the bunch. With her, she can be tough in a bunch of scenes (which are satisfying), and then vulnerable and weak in the next. Most people like the rough dames, but here you get a little bit of everything.

She does a superb job, and obviously this is the movie that made her legendary. Another sign this movie must be good: Raoul Walsh directs. He made most of the GM's, including "Angel's With Dirty Faces", "They Drive By Night", and "High Sierra" which are all classics, and this one is loads better than the others.

Experience and knowledge in the genre most likely helped him quite a bit in this. His direction is flawless, making this movie seem newer and fresher even though its almost a century old. "White Heat" is THE gangster movie to see, so queue it up right now!