Customer Ratings & Reviews

Jimmy Cagney became a star after "The Public Enemy" in 1931. He finished the decade playing in two more gangster films, "Angels With Dirty Faces," and "The Roaring Twenties." Cagney's charisma gave these characters a certain amount of likability, although they all died a violent death for their crimes. Ten years later, Cagney topped his previous performances as psychotic, Arthur "Cody Jarrett. The movie starts with a train robbery and ends with a literally explosive heist. There's no wasted or slow dialogue or film in this thriller. Within the first few minutes, we see Cody's ruthlessness, his unhealthy dependence on his mother (part of the gang), his bimbo wife (Virginia Mayo), and his white hot, debilitating headaches. Unlike the gangsters of previous movies, Cagney's Cody becomes doomed by the sophisticated post-war efforts of the FBI, who use Cody's psychological profile, fingerprints, a tracking device, and an FBI mole (Edmond O'Brien) to trap Cody. The law knows Cody's father had died raving in a mental hospital, and that Cody's dependence on his mother will someday unravel and make Cody go completely insane. White Heat contains many moments that subsequent movies would capture. Cody blasts a man through the trunk of a car when the man begs for air. Cody then casually finishes the sandwich he had been munching. Think "Dirty Harry." Even the scenes without physical action contain tension, as Edmund O' Brien befriends Cody as a fellow "criminal" in jail. The FBI man has more than one incident where he has to think quickly to keep from being exposed. SPOILER WARNING: The two iconic scenes in "White Heat" are the final showdown, and the prison lunch episode where Cody learns of his mother's death. Only someone as gifted as Cagney could show the slow shock on Cody's face, as he sits numbly and makes his entire body and voice explode in screaming hysteria, and make it work. Supposedly, the cast of prison extras didn't know Cagney would react in this manner; even O' Brien looks genuinely surprised. Cody's headaches make him whimper, but ultimately his world ends with a bang. The Blu-ray has an even sharper picture than the dvd version. You can see the Warners' crew at the height of their craft with the black-and-white photography and a great original score enhancing the powerful performances. Special nods to Virginia Mayo as the hot moll who plays second to mama, and Ma Jarrett herself. If you've seen the Godfather films or Goodfellas, you owe it to yourself to view this classic. I would recommend this to a friend!

this was an excellent purchase for my wife. she loves the old movies

Big fan of Cagney. Finally found the Movie! Great Movie!

A real classic James Cagney film. One of the all time greats.

Cagney was superb as the bad guy who loved his "mommy". I loved the scene in the prison cafeteria when Cagney goes off!!!!!!!!!!!! I play it over and over; it is tooooooooooooooo good!

This is one of my favorite Cagney films. One of the most memorable endings of any film, this is an essential gangster film of the 40's.