I must confess I'm a bit embarrassed to say that up until a few weeks ago, I had never even HEARD of James Cagney, let alone seen one of his movies. In fact, although I regard myself as somewhat of a cinephile, the "classic" Hollywood period(Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, etc.) is one in which I am most ruefully uneducated. As a big noir fan, I sat down to watch The Maltese Falcon with unrivaled enthusiasm and gaiety, but after wards I found myself saying, "So...that was it?"
My point is that I'm not one to let a single actor's contribution influence my choice to watch a movie, nor would his absence have any detrimental effect on my ability to enjoy said movie. That is of course, unless your name is James Cagney. Think of a movie in your head right now, your favorite one. One you've seen dozens of times and know inside and out. Got it? Now...imagine that same movie...but with this guy in it
-------------------------------------------------------->Suddenly seems a whole lot better, huh? Back before Bruce Lee, Bruce Willis, or Bruce Campbell were even BORN, Cagney was bootlegging bathtub vodka and smackin' dames with grapefruit. He was the first believable gangster, and the best. Bringing with him a fiery temper and machine-gun style of speaking, he was able to delicately balance the uncontrollably violent(and oftentimes misogynistic) characters he portrayed with a subtle sympathetic element, and we learn that even the baddest of the bad have a soft spot. Cagney's first gangster role was in 1931's The Public Enemy, after it was critically and commercially acclaimed, a bevy of similar roles fell to his feet. By the end of the decade, Cagney was heartily sick of portraying wise-guys, and instead focused on lighter roles such as Yankee Doodle Dandy and Strawberry Blonde. It wasn't until 1949 when he would dust off his old revolver and scheme up another caper, and none are more involving or exciting than White Heat directed by Raoul Walsh, who also directed another personal favorite Cagney gangster film The Roaring Twenties. Cagney is Cody Jarrett, a deranged psychopath with an unhealthy obsession with his mother. Think
Norman Bates obsession. Okay...maybe not, but she's still the only person that he cares about. Everyone else he treats with blissful disregard, including his neglected wife Verna. After Jarrett and his gang knock over a train that leaves 4 dead, the cops find a fingerprint on a pack of cigarettes that belong to one of Jarretts' men. Not willing to face the gas chamber for the robbery, Jarrett instead takes credit for another robbery that occurred at the same time, knowing he'll only do a short stint in the pen and can't be blamed for the train heist. This perfect plan is quickly unraveled when the cops, wise to Jarrett's scheme, place undercover agent Hank Fallon (Edmond O'Brien) in a cell with the unstable momma's boy. Further complicating things is mutinous henchman "Big Ed" Somers (Steve Cochran), who plans on bumping Cody off while he's in the big house, as well as moving in on his wife. After an assassination attempt is foiled by Fallon(under the name Vic Pardo), Jarrett begins to trust and even like him. Through his ever faithful Ma, Cody learns of Big Ed's treacherous plot. She insists that he must be stopped before Cody is killed and vows to take care of him herself, despite Cody's rampant pleas that she not. This idea worries him and he conspires with Pardo to break out, but he's too late. He learns from another inmate that his Ma is dead.Let's just say he doesn't take the news very well. It would be fair to say he proceeds to lose his fucking MIND - weeping like a baby, writhing on top of a dinner table, screeching like a banshee and punching out 4 cops before he is finally dragged away kicking and screaming. This scene is really a showcase of Cagney's acting chops, as with most other actors it very easily could have come off as hammy or corny but here it clearly depicts a grief-stricken, unstable man and genuinely makes you afraid of what he may be capable of.
We learn from Big Ed that it was actually Verna who shot Jarrett's mom in the back(damn!). Jarrett takes hostages and escapes with Pardo. He arrives at the house to kill Big Ed, but catches Verna trying to sneak away first. While Cody is crushing Verna's windpipe with his forearm(see poster), she manages to convince him that it was Ed who killed Ma and not her. Jarrett catches an unsuspecting Ed and plugs him twice as he tries to run away.
The gang together again, they immediately begin their next heist. This time they plan to rob a chemical plant by using a gas truck as a Trojan horse so they can sneak inside. Through the use of a tracking device planted by Fallon, the cops are able to track the trucks location en route to the plant. They hop out and begin to open up the safe when member of the gang recognizes Fallon as a cop who put him away years ago. The truth is revealed when the gang hears sirens outside and sees they're surrounded. Jarrett taunts their efforts at negotiation by shooting back at them. Fallon is able to escape before he is shot by Jarrett, and a massive gunfight ensues. One by one each of Jarrett's men are shot down until only him and one other remain(who he proceeds to shoot himself when he attempts to surrender). Climbing to the top of a massive gas storage tank, Cody is cornered on all sides. Fallon takes a rifle and shoots Cody. He doesn't go down. He shoots him again. He's still standing. He shoots him a third time which finally drops him to his knees. Knowing there's no way out, he shoots the gas tanker himself and famously declares, "Made it Ma! Top of the world!!" before the tanker is engulfed in a tremendous explosion.
For me, it's easy to see why White Heat is so highly regarded. Not only is it a marvelous example of one of cinema's greatest actors in his prime, it boasts an original script with a fresh character, yet still retains the same things that made me fall in love with the genre: quotable, snappy dialogue, archetypal grizzled criminals and a brisk pace with plenty of twists and double-crosses. Try as I might, I genuinely cannot think of one gripe I have with this movie, it's not only an outstanding achievement for gangster/noir films, it stands as an example of just how truly enjoyable movies can be.
