White Heat (1949)

Starring: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, and Edmond O’Brien
Grade: Classic

Not only is White Heat one of the best gangster films of its era, it’s also one of the best films ever.

Summary

Coming out of the High Sierra tunnel on the California state line, gang leader Arthur “Cody” Jarrett (Cagney) and his crew consisting of Big Ed (Steve Cochran), Cotton (Wally Cassell), Zuckie (Ford Rainey), and a couple of others rob a mail train of $300,000 in federal currency in the mountains and kill four guys in the process. Two workers on the train were specifically killed by Cody because they heard Zuckie refer to him by name. After one of the men is shot, he falls onto a lever and steam shoots out of the engine. This severely burns Zuckie. Nevertheless, the group escapes.

A week later, they hear on the radio that treasury authorities believe the gang has escaped to Arizona where a bank was raided, and two tellers were killed. In reality, Cody and his gang are actually hiding out in some hidden remote safe house. There’s no plan to leave any time soon, and it’s crazy cold because of Cody refusing to make a fire in case someone nearby notices the smoke. As Big Ed and Cotton discuss wanting to take over the gang from the unhinged Cody, we are introduced to Cody’s wife Verna (Mayo) who he treats like shit, and his mother (Margaret Wycherly) who he loves more than anything in the world. Zuckie is also completely wrapped in bandages because of his burns from the steam engine. After Cody gives Big Ed and Verna shit, he has this crazy migraine and goes into his room. This is where Ma holds him until he feels better. Before he goes back into the living room, Ma encourages him to act like everything is cool, so they don’t think he’s weak. Because of this, he goes back in the room and immediately starts barking at everyone again until one of Cody’s men comes in and tells him the radio said there’s a storm coming, and every road is going to be blocked tonight. They have to leave right away. Cody tells everyone they have to leave, but they will be safe because the authorities will be occupied during the storm. Even then, Cody still punches the guy because he told him to not use the radio to save the battery.

Before they leave, Cody has Zuckie stay, saying he’ll send back a doctor to help him out. However, when they get outside, Cody has Cotton go back inside to shoot him. Unbeknownst to Cody, Cotton shoots the ceiling instead and tells Zuckie he’ll come back for him. He then gives him a pack of cigarettes. The group then separates. Cody, his mother, and Verna go in one car, and the rest of the gang in the other. At the Tahoe County Morgue, we see that Zuckie ended up dying and his body was found. US Treasury investigator Phillip Evans (John Archer) is told by an officer and a doctor that because of the burns on his body (with the eyebrows and hairline not being singed), they can conclude that the burns either came from boiling water or steam. The cop has a hunch it came from the steam engine of the train that was robbed and Evans concurs. Later in his office, Evans is given a spectrograph of dirt from the tunnel compared to the dust particles on Zuckie’s clothes and they see it’s identical, placing him right at the scene of the robbery. Information is sent from Washington as well. They couldn’t find the prints of the dead man (Zuckie), but they found Cotton’s prints on the pack of cigarettes, and they know he’s a member of Cody’s gang. Later, Cody is alerted of the authorities finding out, so he rushes back to the place they’re staying at. Verna however tells him that Ma had to go to the store to pick up his precious strawberries, so they’ll have to wait.

An agent spots Ma at the grocery store and alerts Evans because they both know that wherever Ma goes, Cody goes. He wraps cloth around the rear bumper of her car as a marker for Evans. Evans and his partner tail Ma for a while but lose track of her after some time of driving. She feels like she’s being followed and tells Cody once she gets in the house. Though she’s not certain, Cody believes her hunch, and they take a different car in their escape because he knows the car she’s driving is the one they’ll be looking for. Evans sends his partner back to get the others after losing signal on a call and goes after Cody and company on foot. When Cody tries to get to the other car, Evans approaches and tries to arrest him, prompting Cody to shoot him. He’s badly wounded, and Cody, Ma, and Verna escape. Evans sends his partner after them. Cody takes them to a drive-in movie theater and devises an ingenious plan.

Scratch Morton was a criminal also on the lam from Illinois who knocked over a hotel payroll in Springfield the night Cody’s gang pulled the tunnel job, and Cody talked with him. He says he’s going to take credit for Scratch Morton’s heist and will turn himself in, getting two years at most. It provides him an alibi because this crime happened at the same time as the tunnel heist. He tells Ma to handle all the talking to the agents, gives her some money, and promises Verna he’ll be back. He then leaves them in the car, going to a private plane to get to Illinois.

Sometime after, Evans interrogates Ma and Verna, and Ma swears up and down they haven’t seen Cody in months. As Verna sobs, Ma insists she was just trying to cheer up Verna with some food from the grocery store. They were at the movies because they decided to change the plan for the night. Evans counters with the fact that he was actually shot by Cody, but Ma says it could’ve been anybody, and since Evans is the only one that witnessed it, that’s not enough to convince her. They have no evidence to hold them or Cody for the tunnel heist, so they’re forced to let Ma and Verna go. Right after, Cody turns himself in for the Springfield hotel heist. Following this news, Evans has Agent Hank Fallon (O’Brien) come in. He shows him a fax of Cody confessing for the hotel job. Funnily enough, even Fallon knows Scratch Morton went into hiding for the job and isn’t convinced for a second that Cody was responsible. Evans knows Cody’s bullshitting his way through this too, but they arranged with the Springfield police to go through with it. This way, they can send Fallon into the prison undercover as an inmate and into the cell of Cody. With this, Fallon can try and find out where Cody hid the money and find the identity of the fence who engineered the deal and who frequently launders stolen money from Cody. Going undercover in prisons is Fallon’s specialty and though he was promised a vacation, Evans tells him he can’t because time is of the essence. Later, Fallon does his research in preparation for his newest mission and goes over it with Evans. Anyone who Fallon has arrested before will be transferred.

One man knows Fallon very well in prisoner Bo Creel (Ian McDonald), but Evans assures him he’ll be getting out that Saturday and will just miss Fallon, so there won’t be an issue there. Evans then explains the type of crackpot that Cody is. His father died in prison, and he has an attachment to his mother. As a kid, he used to fake headaches to get her attention, but after a while, they became real and tear him apart. He’s on the verge of cracking, so they’ll be running against the clock. It’ll be tough to get close to him though. He’s only been seriously close with his mother, so it’ll be hard for Fallon to win over his trust. On the day of the trial, Cody is sentenced to 1-3 years at the state penitentiary. As he’s being taken away, Fallon, under the alias of “Vic Pardo”, is brought in. He bumps into Cody and asks if the judge is tough. Cody looks at him but is taken away.

In prison, Cody has his own little group, including a lip reader in Herbert and another guy named Ryley (Robert Osterloh). From a distance, Herbert sees another talking about how Big Ed is going to take control of Cody’s group. Cody is livid and plans on fighting him. “Pardo” tries to convince him not to because he could get into a lot of trouble, but Cody flips out on him because he barely knows “Pardo” and definitely doesn’t trust him. They are interrupted by both men being called to the dispensary to get their shots. When they get there, Bo Creel is the one preparing the prisoners for them! He was supposed to be gone by now, but his stay got extended because he just had pneumonia. He’s leaving tomorrow. In line, Creel offers to do anything for Cody, so Cody asks him to look up Big Ed and tell him he was asking about him. “Pardo” sees Creel and freaks out because it can blow his cover. This forces him to start a fight to get out of it, and he’s sent to solitary for a month as a result. The day of his return to the cell, Cody, Ryley, and Herbert get their mail. Cody is still unsure of “Pardo”, but the other two aren’t concerned. Cody checks his mail and sees a picture of Pardo’s “wife”. Uncaring, he leaves Pardo’s opened mail on the table for him to see when he walks into the cell.

Once he gets in, it takes him a bit to notice the picture and only sees his cue after noticing the envelope addressed to him on his bed. He then comes up with a lie on the spot about how his wife was blonde, and he barely recognized her now that she’s dyed her hair brown. It works and they all share a laugh once Cody and Ryler note to him that the doctor says he still has to get his shots. Herbert then reads the lips of a prisoner next to him named Parker (Paul Guilfoyle). Apparently, Cody’s gang pulled off another heist and netted $57,000. Even though he’s not there with them, Cody insists he’ll still get his full share because Ma will see to it.

Well, he’s right.

Ma has a meeting with the gang to tell them, and no one argues it. Outside, Verna, who is now seeing Big Ed, gets mad at him for not arguing with Ma over this decision. He’s not worried though. He tells her he hired a guy in Cody’s cell to kill him in prison, and everything is waiting on Ed’s word. As they kiss, Ma sees it from the window.

While the prisoners work in the workshop, Parker, the man hired by Ed, tries to kill Cody by dropping this heavy piece of machinery from a crane onto him, but “Pardo” notices it just in time and tackles Cody to safety. Cody still isn’t too impressed by “Pardo” and accuses him of wanting something, so “Pardo” leaves. Suspicious, Cody goes over to Parker and tells him “accidents happen”, but he knows something is up. They are then interrupted by an announcement for certain people having visitors. Ma visits Cody and tells him about Big Ed and Verna and as they talk about why Big Ed is being so gutsy as of late, Cody connects the dots and realizes that Parker was hired to kill him. Big Ed’s confidence stems from him thinking Cody is a dead man. Ma tells Cody she’s going after Big Ed and leaves, despite Cody’s insistence on her to not try anything. Back in the workshop, Cody lets Parker know he’s on to him and promises to get him back. Immediately following this, he’s hit with a migraine. He crawls over to “Pardo” who consoles him and helps him back to his feet, encouraging him to not give an inch to these other prisoners. Though he doesn’t say anything, Cody appreciates his kind words. Now, “Pardo” is finally gaining Cody’s trust.

That night, Cody explains his worries about Ma, his outside business, and admits his plan of confessing for this crime to avoid the other. Now, he’s planning a breakout because he’s worried about Ma and what Ed may try, and he’s enlisting the help of “Pardo”. Everything is now going smoothly for the most part, but everything is thrown against the wall when Cody is informed shortly after of Ma’s death. He loses it, and his unpredictability becomes a nightmare for Pardo’s gameplan, Evans, and the rest of the authorities trying to catch him before things get worse.

My Thoughts:

There has been a lot of films that people like to point to when discussing how a genre evolved or changed for the better of the industry. For the gangster film, James Cagney was fortunate enough to be in two of the biggest ones. First, there was The Public Enemy, a film that catapulted him to stardom and helped shape the original string of gangster movies that dominated the 30s and 40s (along with Little Caesar). Much later, there was White Heat. Though it came out nearly twenty years after Cagney’s first major turn as a ruthless gangster, he made his long-awaited return to the genre, despite being hesitant at first. Let’s not get it twisted, Cagney was a part of other gangster films in-between these two movies (The Roaring Twenties, Angels with Dirty Faces, etc.), but he worked hard at doing other films leading up to White Heat so he wouldn’t be typecast. This is completely understandable. Thankfully though, he decided to come out of this unofficial retirement from the genre to give us this legendary picture. As much as I don’t mind shitting on older movies when I feel like it’s truly needed, you have to give credit where credit’s due. White Heat is still one of the greatest of all time. This is mainly due to Cagney once again escaping into the role of the psychotic Cody Jarrett, a no-nonsense bad guy with very little (if any) redeeming qualities. Not only does Cagney give us an incredibly engrossing performance, but he makes the character an all-timer.

Cagney is able to take the traditional movie gangster and spin it on its head.

He’s not your typical criminal. He’s not much of a drinker, or a man of many indulgences to speak of. Cody is about getting money and doing it at all costs. What’s interesting to note is that even though this is the goal, he doesn’t get to enjoy himself. However, it’s hard to say if he even wants to. There’s something truly unsettling about the nature of Cody Jarrett, a man that can snap in an instant. His mood flip flops just like that. He’s married to Verna and though he has fun with her here and there, most of the time we see him treating her like an indentured servant. Sadly, it’s more unexpected when he’s nice to her because of how well-known he is for his temper. Even when he gets out of prison and eventually reconvenes with Verna, he goes to say goodbye to her, and she immediately flinches thinking he’s going to hit her. He insists he wouldn’t do that, but Verna (and the audience) knows how he is and how he’s always tiptoeing the line of a breakdown. It’s hard to say if he’s even friends with the members of his gang either. Right away, we see Big Ed and Cotton openly discuss taking over the gang because Cody is such a maniac and when they’re all in the same room, everyone just does what Cody says without question. They all live in fear. Realistically, this group could turn on Cody and kick him out, but they’re legitimately intimidated by him. Sure, he has a violent temper, but it’s not just that. It’s next-level.

This is a man that kills without question. He never stalls to make a speech first. He may say a quip here and there, but he will kill you if he sees fit. Cody Jarrett is the type of evil where even if his group turns on him and shoots him, he’ll somehow survive and hunt them all down.

Hell, if he did die, he’d haunt them as a ghost.

You can see the fear he brings onto others when he escapes prison. Verna knows Cody is coming for his revenge. Big Ed acts unphased, but the simple fact that the rest of the gang fled the area because they know Cody’s business is with Ed shows us how they don’t want to be involved in what he could possibly do. The sequence in which he comes for Ed and scares the living daylights out of Verna in the process was absolutely riveting. Just the shot of Cody partially seen through the doorway, staring with a murderous glance at the man that helped in taking everything away from him is unforgettable. You have now pissed off the craziest, most unpredictable man you know. Ed’s time has come, and we can feel Cody seething in anger as he stares at him. Cagney has exactly the presence the character needs to strike this fear in everyone he comes into contact with. As soon as his hands cover Verna’s scared mouth, the viewer immediately gets the feeling of “Oh shit! He’s back!”.

The legend of Cody Jarrett travels too, and he commands respect because of his violent reputation. His men listen in fear and even in prison, people do whatever he says. Even Bo Creel, a man he’s never met before, offers to do anything for him once he gets out of prison. That’s crazy to me. Why would you want to even be associated with someone as unhinged as Cody? Well, despite his craziness, he produces results! We open the film with his group robbing a train of $200,000. Do you know how much money $200,000 was in 1949? Basically, it’s worth the risk. This is why everyone in the criminal world respects him as well as fears him. Once they join him however, they’re locked in and become stuck as a pawn of Cody as he rules with an iron fist.

What sets Cody apart from other movie gangsters are his psychological problems. Now, it’s commonplace in movies to add these types of traits to a villain, but White Heat was one of the very few to go this in-depth on the gangster. Yes, he’s a killing machine, but it’s not this. It’s his child-like devotion to his mother that is the direct root of his unpredictability. Based off the mother of the Barker-Karpis Gang that J. Edgar Hoover lied about, Ma is Cody’s everything. He believes and trusts her every word and will only show his real weaknesses to her. She doesn’t care he’s a criminal either. In fact, she plays a big part in the gang and makes sure Cody gets his share of the money the gang scores while he’s in prison. Ma even covers for him to the authorities, fearlessly telling Cody she can “handle them” and does so without any trouble. She’s the only person he trusts with every word and loves so dearly. It’s well-known too. Even Agent Evans and Fallon discuss it before Fallon starts his mission. It’s explained that ever since his father left the picture, Ma became Cody’s security blanket. No matter how violent the crime he commits or whatever happens, he always goes back to Ma when he needs to, giving us a wonderfully interesting insight into the mind of Cody Jarrett. He used to fake headaches for her attention when he was a kid, but now he suffers from debilitating migraines that actually affect him and he has to be consoled by Ma like he’s five years old.

It’s this overall uniqueness that separates him from the pack and serves as a base for his violent and erratic nature. This allows us to understand the character on a different level and shows us how and why his behavior has gotten as far as it has.

The scene in which he receives the news is one of the most memorable ever. You can hear a pin drop in that prison.

He’s sick (in numerous ways), twisted, and he needs to be stopped. It sets us up very well for Edmond O’Brien’s portrayal of the courageous Hank Fallon. I love how easily we get behind Fallon, despite the beginning of the film making us think Agent Evans was going to be the law enforcement agent that saves the day. It’s a testament to O’Brien’s underrated performance. Having Fallon’s specialty as an agent of going undercover to several prisons is also a cool thing to see in retrospect. It’s one thing to be sent in for a one-time mission, but this is something he does on a regular basis which I find interesting. I love the confidence he walks in with, easily reciting the history of his “Vic Pardo” alias. Fallon is confident this will be just like any other mission. However, as soon as Agent Evans explains the psychological issues Cody has, you know things will be different. Seeing Fallon have to think on his feet after the numerous unforeseen happenings and unexpected twists at every turn, we genuinely get hooked into the narrative because we have no idea how he’ll figure this out. He gets in deeper than he expects (gaining a level of trust with Cody that he only shares with Ma), and it throws the entire plan out of whack.

If you consider yourself a fan of older cinema or a gangster film aficionado, White Heat is a must-see. Despite being from 1949, it still contains a level of fierceness, heightened intensity, raw emotion, action, and a level of unpredictability not seen in movies from this time period. Led by a fiery second half, a climax for the ages, an all-time performance by James Cagney, and an all-time quote (“Made it, Ma! Top of the World!”) that will forever be remembered in the annals of cinema, White Heat deserves its spot amongst the greatest films of all time.