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Movies / On DVD / White Heat
White Heat

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White Heat (1949)

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Reviews Counted:28

Fresh:28

Rotten:0

Average Rating:8.4/10

Consensus: 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.

Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Synopsis: James Cagney solidified his tough guy persona in this brutal gangster opus about a vicious man who still loves his Ma. Cody Jarrett, the leader of a gang out west, has been busy knocking over... James Cagney solidified his tough guy persona in this brutal gangster opus about a vicious man who still loves his Ma. Cody Jarrett, the leader of a gang out west, has been busy knocking over banks and holding up trains. Complicating matters some, he has in tow his beloved Ma, his cool blonde beauty, Verna, and a suave double-crossing hood, Big Ed. The feds manage to put Cody behind bars on a minor charge. They then decide to plant an undercover agent in Cody's prison cell to win his confidence and encourage him to spill the beans about his criminal history. After a prison riot, Cody escapes. He leads the police on a chase through a mazelike chemical factory that culminates Cody's life of crime... and Cody insists on going out in his own blaze of glory. [More]

Starring: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Steve Cochran

Starring: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Steve Cochran, John Archer, Wally Cassell, Fred Clark, Ford Rainey

Director: Raoul Walsh

Director: Raoul Walsh
Producer: Louis F. Edelman
Composer: Max Steiner

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jan 25, 2005

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • In his last role as a heartless gangster, James Cagney embarks on a prison break of a lifetime in this chilling tale that features one of the most riveting finales in movie history.
  • Source: Warner Home Video
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for White Heat

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    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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    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.

    Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
    04/27/09
    TIME Magazine
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Cagney has an excellent supporting cast.

    Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
    04/27/09
    Variety Staff
    Variety Staff
    Variety
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

    Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
    04/27/09
    David Parkinson
    David Parkinson
    Empire Magazine

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

    Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
    04/27/09
    Dave Kehr
    Dave Kehr
    Chicago Reader
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Cagney supercharges the entire film with frenetic energy.

    Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
    10/09/08
    Robert Roten
    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....

    Full Review Source: DVDJournal.com | comment Comment
    04/05/06
    Mark Bourne
    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.

    Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
    01/26/06
    Time Out
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Cagney, intenso como de hábito, cria um personagem que, apesar de sua óbvia instabilidade psicológica e de sua crueldade patológica, conquista o espectador com sua carência emocional.

    comment Comment
    11/22/05
    Pablo Villaca
    Pablo Villaca
    Cinema em Cena

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    10/21/05
    Chuck O'Leary
    Chuck O'Leary
    Fantastica Daily

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    08/14/05
    Emanuel Levy
    Emanuel Levy
    EmanuelLevy.Com

    Film noir masterpiece, with brilliant direction and visual style

    Full Review Source: Classic Film and Television | comment Comment
    05/28/05
    Michael E. Grost
    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.

    Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
    03/21/05
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    Combustible Celluloid

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

    Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
    02/24/05
    John J. Puccio
    John J. Puccio
    DVDTown.com

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

    Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
    02/05/05
    Christopher Null
    Christopher Null
    Filmcritic.com

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

    Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
    02/04/05
    Eric Henderson
    Eric Henderson
    Slant Magazine

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

    comment Comment
    04/23/04
    Rob Vaux
    Rob Vaux
    Flipside Movie Emporium

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    02/04/04
    Lori Hoffman
    Lori Hoffman
    Atlantic City Weekly

    No review available.

    comment Comment
    08/22/03
    Carol Cling
    Carol Cling
    Las Vegas Review-Journal

    A very entertaining classic gangster film from the 1940s.

    Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
    06/13/03
    Dennis Schwartz
    Dennis Schwartz
    Ozus' World Movie Reviews

    There's a freewheeling brutality about the picture.

    Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
    05/24/03
    Channel 4 Film
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
     
     
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