Top 50 Actors, #48 - James Cagney: "White Heat" (1949)

Movie Stats:
Released 1949 (USA)
American, in English
Director - Raoul Walsh
Stars - James Cagney, Margaret Wycherly, Edmond O’Brien

Plot Summary:
A heist caper featuring a remorseless killer — Cody Jarrett (Cagney) — with a mommy complex (Ma is played by Wycherly) who comes to trust a man he maybe shouldn’t trust, Vic Pardo (O’Brien).

Warnings:
Violence.

Bad Stuff:
It has a little too much “movie magic” for me, i.e. absolutely everyone is a crack shot or that one scene where Ma is being followed by the police & a car conveniently backs out of a driveway, blocking the police car following her, etc.

Cody’s wife Verna (Virginia Mayo) is completely superfluous to the plot. She added nothing beyond a pretty face. It would’ve been the same movie without her in it.

Good Stuff:
I enjoyed the cat & mouse nature of it.

The acting is good. I particularly enjoyed all three leads.

I liked the idea that Cody was thoroughly dependent on Ma, and not in a creepy way. She wasn’t his moral compass but his reality compass, making sure that his plans were solid & keeping an eye out for plots against him. Then [SPOILER] as soon as she’s gone, he’s completely incapable of making sound decisions [SPOILER]. I thought it was a nice twist on the genre.

About the Performance:
I don’t think it’s any secret that Cagney played a lot of gangsters. It was kind of his thing. Normally this is something I might complain about here, “Oh, he played the same type of character he always plays!” But I thought there was more nuance to Cody Jarrett than that. Here is this thief and murderer who rules his gang with an iron fist, who executes complex plots, and he needs his mommy to be successful. Watching him unravel was quite fascinating. [SPOILER-y] The scene where he discovers he’s been duped and says, “And we went for it, I went for it,” I absolutely loved his delivery. [SPOILER] I was impressed.

Other performances of Cagney’s I’ve reviewed: Yankee Doodle Dandy; The Public Enemy.

The Verdict:
I thought this would be a fairly standard gangster film but found that it had a little something extra. Perhaps that’s because it came fairly late in the game (old style gangster films had largely fallen out of fashion by the late 40s). I liked that it showcased actual hit-the-pavement police work. I liked how clever & resourceful Pardo was, and the delicate dance he does with Cody. Most of the acting falls on a range from good to impressive. Occasionally, things get a little too convenient in order to move the plot forward, but beyond that, I thought it was both engaging and enjoyable. A really solid film.

I give it 4 stars.