White Heat (1949)
Director: Raoul Walsh
Honors:
James Cagney makes his return to Warner Bros. and and the
gangster genre in glorious fashion. Evoking the character style that made him a
massive star back in the 1930s with the additional aspects of film noir under
the direction of heralded Warners’ filmmaker Raoul Walsh, White Heat is
an exciting picture that bridges the gap between the gangster films of the of
previous years to the heist movies that would arise in the 1950s. Praised form
bringing an older style of movie to a new generation, the film would become one
of Cagney’s more memorable performances and a classic of the gangster/prison movie
genre.
White Heat is a crime drama about a government agent’s
infiltration of a of criminals led by a psychotic and unstable crime boss. James
Cagney portrays “Cody” Jarrett, a gang leader with mental instabilities guided
by his lofty ambitions and his strong emotions for his mother. Agent Hank
Fallon (Edmund O’Brien) is tasked as an undercover agent to pose as a prisoner in
hope to infiltrate Cody’s trust in hope to gather evidence on a crime Cody is
covering up for under the guise of serving a sentence for a smaller felony.
Fallon gets himself into the good lights of Cody by aiding his prison break out
followed by squashing a coup of Cody’s gang by his second in command who was secretly
helped by Cody’s two-timing wife, Verna (Virginia Mayo). Free and fully in
power again Cody concocts an elaborate “Trojan Horse” robbery at a chemical refinery
with hopes of a massive payday. However, with Fallon infiltrating Cody’s plot authorities
are alerted to the heist, climaxing in an explosive showdown at the refinery where
Cody goes out in a blaze of glory.
This picture evokes all the classic energy audiences came to
enjoy from Cagney’s earlier works in Warner Bros. gangster flicks. A little
more long in the tooth and with a bit more weight to his small frame Cagney
seems to step up his serious performance, this time a character that is more psychopathic,
suffering from mental instabilities that drives his character to darker places.
With a cinematic vibe that is more in
tune with the late 1940s this picture balances out the old favorites of the
actor’s past with the tone and energy of the evolving motion picture business. The
picture itself does not present a seismic change in motion pictures, but with
hints of film noir and smart crime dramas this feature brings back Cagney to
his roots while simultaneously leads his career forward.
Wonderfully shot by Raoul Walsh, this film has a visual
style that portrays the realistic nature Hollywood films were slowly absorbing
at this time from European cinema. The film’s climax evokes a similar impression
to that of the low budget crime picture The Naked City with its use of real
locations and their interesting structures as a form of added artistry to the
setting and the motion picture frame. The black and white cinematography delivers
a mood of film noir in this crime drama as it brings tangibility into an
otherwise previously fancifully portrayal of organized crime within Hollywood.
After nearly a decade of cutting himself off from the studio
and going independent James Cagney found himself financially forced into a
situation where he had to make a deal with Warner Bros. to simply keep himself
working. Despite both Jack Warner vowing never to hire Cagney again and
Cagney’s protests to unfair treatment by studios the two sides would work out
an agreement that kept Cagney’s company alive by making it a subsidiary of
Warner Bros., delivering him work while bruising his ego. The studio pushed White
Heat unto the star actor in hope to capitalize on his past gangster genre
success, and despite his disinterest into the initial idea Cagney agreed to the
project.
His performance would be one of his finest received works
becoming a blessing and a curse for the veteran actor who had long strived to
buck his typecasting. To add depth to his performance art Cagney made Cody more
ruthless, studying mental illness, as well as basing Cody’s outbursts on Cagney’s
own experiences witnessing his father’s drunken outbursts as a child. It was
Cagney’s idea to give Cody the sudden, debilitating headaches to manifest how a
strong character can be brought to his knees over such small things. Critically
Cagney’s performance was a new breakthrough as he received great praise for his
role, and to make up for the typecasting he would get a much lighter material
in his next film, the musical The West Point Story (1950).
For co-stars Virginia Mayo and Edmond O’Brien both found
working with the famous legendary actor very rewarding. Mayo, portraying the
scheming wife of Cody was taking a chance with an unsympathetic role, something
actors typically avoiding when pursuing prestige. She found Cagney’s performance
so realistic on set that she many times was frightened by her co-star. Following
completion of production Mayo was thrilled to once again star alongside of
Cagney in West Point Story. Despite O’Brien’s character being the main
protagonist of the story, his name would be knocked below top billing obviously
due to the main draw being that of Cagney. This does not detract from the
strong performance O’Brien had in the undercover agent of Hank Fallon and his
alias “Vic Pardo.” For O’Brien White Heat may have been his crowning
achievement in the movies taking to heart the instruction Cagney words of
wisdom on set. However, O’Brien’s career would find himself transitioning to
focus on the emerging market of television finding ever present work with the
help of his strong Hollywood resumé.
Also featured in the film is the talents of Samual Goldwyn contract
player Steve Cochran and veteran Broadway actress Margaret Wycherly in
important supporting roles. Cochran portrays the power-hungry henchman Big Ed
who attempts take Cody’s gang and girl by having him murdered in prison. The
character proves is a bit lacking as it could have been played by any number of
gangster actors of the era, but for Cochran it was a boost to his career at the
time as he saw his contract purchased by much more successful Warner Bros during
production. 67 year-old Margaret Wycherly had the important task of portraying
the mother psychotic Cody absolutely adores. Many may never be able to tell
that she was a London born actress, but with her experience in the Hollywood
dating back to the silent era and even earning herself an Oscar nomination she
has the ability to embody a character no matter how small a role as witnessed
here in the brief moments as Cody’s mother.
Despite James Cagney not being to keen on White Heat,
which the star considered an average melodrama, both movie and actor received
great praise for the production. The picture was considered one of the finest
movies of the year, earning a nomination for Best Story at the Academy Awards. It quickly became a much beloved all-time gangster
movie that may not be the best, but never out of the realm of discussion for
the paramount acting and construction of a heist story, earning election to the
National Film Registry in 2003. Cagney was back, and despite his initial lack
of enthusiasm for picture he was once again brought up to being “top of the
world!”
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