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White Heat (1949)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 8.4/10
Reviews Counted: 28
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 0

Raoul Walsh's crime drama goes further into the psychology of a gangster than most fear to tread and James Cagney's portrayal of the tragic anti-hero is constantly volatile.

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 0

Raoul Walsh's crime drama goes further into the psychology of a gangster than most fear to tread and James Cagney's portrayal of the tragic anti-hero is constantly volatile.

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Movie Info

In later years, James Cagney regarded White Heat with a combination of pride and regret; while satisfied with his own performance, he tended to dismiss the picture as a "cheap melodrama." Seen today, White Heat stands as one of the classic crime films of the 1940s, containing perhaps Cagney's best bad-guy portrayal. The star plays criminal mastermind Cody Jarrett, a mother-dominated psychotic who dreams of being on "top of the world." Inadvertently leaving clues behind after a railroad heist,

Unrated, 1 hr. 54 min.

Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense, Classics

Directed By: Raoul Walsh

Written By: Ivan Goff, Ben Roberts

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1949 Limited

On DVD: Jan 25, 2005

Cast

James Cagney
Arthur Cody Jarrett
Virginia Mayo
Verna Jarrett
Edmond O'Brien
Hank Fallon/Vic Pardo
Steve Cochran
Big Ed Sommers
Margaret Wycherly
Ma Jarrett
John Archer
Phillip Evans
Wally Cassell
Giovanni Cotton Valetti
Mickey Knox
Het Kohler
Ian MacDonald
Bo Creel
Fred Clark
Daniel Winston the Trad...
G. Pat Collins
The Reader
Paul Guilfoyle
Roy Parker
Fred Coby
Happy Taylor
Ford Rainey
Zuckie Hommell
Robert Osterloh
Tommy Ryley
Joel Allen
Operative
Claudia Barrett
Cashier
Ray Bennett
Guard
Marshall Bradford
Police Chief
John K. Butler
Man
Bob Carson
Agent
Leo Cleary
Fireman
Hank Fallon
Edmund O'Brien
Art Foster
Guard
Eddie Foster
Nat Lefeld
Robert Foulk
Guard at Plant
Buddy Gorman
Popcorn Vendor
Sherry Hall
Clerk
Carl Harbaugh
Foreman
Perry Ivins
Simpson the Prison Doct...
Harry Lauter
Radio Patrolman Car A
Nolan Leary
Gas Station Owner
Murray Leonard
Engineer
Larry McGrath
Clocker
John McGuire
Psychiatrist
Sid Melton
Russell Hughes
Ray Montgomery
Ernie Trent
Milton Parsons
Willie Rolf the Stoolie
Lee Phelps
Tower Guard
John M. Pickard
Government Agent
Joey Ray
Agent
Grandon Rhodes
Psychiatrist
George Spaulding
Judge
Harry Strang
Guard
Jim Thorpe
Guard
Jim Toney
Brakeman
Garrett Craig
Ted Clark
Fern Eggen
Margaret Baxter
Arthur Miles
Guard
Jack Worth
Eddie Phillips
Government Agent
George Taylor
Police Surgeon

Critic Reviews for White Heat

All Critics (28) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (31) | Rotten (0) | DVD (12)

Brilliantly directed by Raoul Walsh, an old master of cinema hoodlumism, it returns a more subtle James Cagney to the kind of thug role that made him famous.

April 27, 2009 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine

| Comment

TIME Magazine

Top Critic

Cagney has an excellent supporting cast.

April 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

Raoul Walsh's heroes had a knack for going too far, but none went further than James Cagney in this roaring 1949 gangster piece.

April 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

The simple fact is that Mr. Cagney has made his return to a gangster role in one of the most explosive pictures that he or anyone has ever played.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

Top Critic

Magnificent examination of the criminal mind and Cagney's finest moment.

April 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine

| Comment

David Parkinson

Empire Magazine

Cagney supercharges the entire film with frenetic energy.

October 9, 2008 Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope

| Comment

Robert Roten

Laramie Movie Scope

Its archetypal influence on later films like Goodfellas and the Al Pacino Scarface is striking, even if we can never again experience how new and bold it was back in its day....

April 5, 2006 Full Review Source: DVDJournal.com

| Comment

Mark Bourne

DVDJournal.com

Part of the six-disc Warner Gangsters Collection, White Heat arrives on DVD struck from a print that's a real beauty. The image is nearly flawless, cleaner and truer by miles than any previous edition perhaps since its original theatrical run.

April 5, 2006 Full Review Source: DVDJournal.com

| Comment

Mark Bourne

DVDJournal.com

Despite chronology (deranged by the censor's influence on the studios), this is really the fitting climax of the '30s gangster movie.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Time Out

Cagney, intenso como de h�bito, cria um personagem que, apesar de sua �bvia instabilidade psicol�gica e de sua crueldade patol�gica, conquista o espectador com sua car�ncia emocional.

November 22, 2005 Comment

Pablo Villaca

Cinema em Cena

Raoul Walsh's Freudian film is one of the fastest and toughest crime-gangster films ever made, boasting a bravura performance from James Cagney as a misogynist mama boy ("top of the world, Ma").

August 14, 2005 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Film noir masterpiece, with brilliant direction and visual style

May 28, 2005 Full Review Source: Classic Film and Television

| Comment

Michael E. Grost

Classic Film and Television

Cagney gives an utterly ferocious performance, arguably his finest, as Cody Jarrett, a psychotic gangster with an unholy mother fixation.

March 21, 2005 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

| Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

Walsh makes parts of it seem almost documentary in style when the script delves into police procedural work, but mostly the film is all Cagney, coming apart at the seams.

February 24, 2005 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

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John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

White Heat is vigorous and uncompromising. Cagney is all kinetic energy and raw nerve.

February 24, 2005 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

| Comment

John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

If you're looking for Cagney's best gangster role ever, you got it right here, on the top of the world.

February 5, 2005 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com

| Comment

Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

If you were James Cagney's mother, would you have rubbed the back of his neck? I didn't think so.

February 4, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

White Heat's ultimate message: love's a *****...even crypto-incestuous love.

February 4, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

Cagney's finest hour and one of the best gangster pictures ever made.

April 23, 2004 Comment

Rob Vaux

Flipside Movie Emporium

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for White Heat

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Someone on IMDB called "White Heat" the bridge "between film noir and WB's classic gangster flicks", and I think it's a pretty apt description. It's the story of Cody Jarrett, psychotic gangster feared by everyone, and yet constantly looking over his shoulder as conspirators lie in wait at every turn (whether it be

November 28, 2011

First Last

Super Reviewer

My favourite gangster movie, Cagney is brilliant as the crazy mama's boy gang leader. The ending is classic. I love it.

September 5, 2010

AJ Verser

Super Reviewer

White Heat Quotes

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1. Arthur Cody Jarrett: Made it, Ma! Top of the world!
– Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)

Submit a Quote from 'White Heat'

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