Rent White Heat (1949)
4.0 of 5 from 136 ratings
1h 49min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- As a psychotic thug devoted to his hard-boiled ma, James Cagney - older, scarier and just as electrifying - gives a performance to match his work in 'The Public Enemy' as 'White Heat's's' cold-blooded Cody Jarrett. Bracingly directed by Raoul Walsh, this fast-paced thriller tracing Jarrett's violent life in and out of jail is also a harrowing character study. Jarrett is a psychological time bomb ruled by impulse. He murders a wounded accomplice and revels in the act. He neglects his sultry wife (Virginia Mayo) and adores his doting mother. It is among the most vivid screen performances of Cagney's career, and the excitement it generates will put you on top of the world!
- Actors:
- James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Margaret Wycherly, Steve Cochran, John Archer, Wally Cassell, Fred Clark, Joel Allen, Claudia Barrett, Ray Bennett, Marshall Bradford, Chet Brandenburg, John Butler, Robert Carson, Bill Cartledge, Bill Clark, Leo Cleary, Fred Coby, Tom Coleman
- Directors:
- Raoul Walsh
- Producers:
- Louis F. Edelman
- Writers:
- Ivan Goff, Ben Roberts, Virginia Kellogg
- Others:
- Virginia Kellogg
- Studio:
- Warner
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama, Thrillers
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- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 14/08/2017
- Run Time:
- 113 minutes
- Languages:
- Brazilian Portuguese Dolby Digital 1.0, Castilian Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0, German Dolby Digital 1.0, Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0
- Subtitles:
- Brazilian, Castillian, English Hard of Hearing, French, German Hard of Hearing, Latin American Spanish
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.78:1 / 16:9
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Commentary by Film Historian Dr. Drew Casper
- Leonard Maltin Hosts Warner Night at the Movies 7949 with Newsreel, Comedy Short So You Think You're Not Guilty, Cartoon Homeless Hare and Theatrical Trailers
- Featurette White Heat: Top of the World
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Reviews (1) of White Heat
Gangster Noir. - White Heat review by Steve
In 1949, James Cagney returned to Warner Brothers for an update of his early '30s prohibition films. He plays Cody Jarrett, a crazy, mother-fixated killer, like he is one of the most-wanted of the depression. There is a tension between this outlaw throwback, and the modern scientific police methods used to track him down.
This is primarily a gangster film. When Jarrett wants to break out of jail, he doesn't have a hidden map of the building and a plan; he busts out with a gun and improvises. But it has the look of film noir. When Cody comes after his disloyal heavy (Steve Cochran) and unfaithful, degenerate moll (Virginia Mayo), it is as dark as The Big Sleep.
The characters are more nuanced than the pre-code gangster films, and the cops are smarter. It is a genre landmark which marries the punchy gangbusters of the early mob films with the gloomy introspection of post war film noir. And it is as tense and exciting as a thriller.
There's a phenomenal star performance from Cagney, but the support is also superb. Especially Edmond O'Brien as a G Man who goes undercover with the most volatile crook in films, to plan a heist in an oil depot. The incendiary ending when Cagney literally burns up the set is film legend.
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.