White Heat

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White Heat

Released Sep 2, 1949

1h 54m

Crime

Drama

Action

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Popcornmeter

94%

Tomatometer

81 Reviews

93%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Gang leader Cody Jarrett (James Cagney) lives for his mother, planning heists between horrible headaches. During a train robbery that goes wrong, Cody shoots an investigator. Realizing Cody will never be stopped if he knows he's being pursued, authorities plant undercover agent Hank (Edmond O'Brien) in Cody's cell. When his mother dies, a distraught Cody breaks out of jail, bringing Hank along to join his gang. With Hank in communication with the police, Cody plans a payroll heist.

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Critics 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.

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Marjory Adams

Boston Globe

James Cagney gives an astounding, realistic, terrific portrayal of a gangster as menacing and as ruthless as any ever played on the screen as the star of White Heat.

Apr 23, 2024

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Kate Cameron

New York Daily News

White Heat, made by Warners, under Raoul Walsh's direction and suggested by a Virginia Kellogg story, is a highly exciting cops and robbers melodrama. One scene of violence follows another, until the thrilling climax.

Rated: 3.5/4

Apr 23, 2024

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Mae Tinee

Chicago Tribune

Here's a taut crime melodrama, with punch and pace, which is very, likely to start a whole new cycle of such pictures... it looks like Director Raoul Walsh and the practiced Mr. Cagney have put the public enemy back in business again.

Apr 23, 2024

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

... it’s absolutely ferocious and Cagney gives a blindingly unhinged performance as an emotionally unstable and mentally unbalanced Jarrett, putting his dancer’s moves to work in a riveting physical performance.

Nov 16, 2024

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Jay Carmody

Washington Star

It has a cast worthy of a super-criminal, with such supporting players as Virginia Mayo, Edmond O’Brien and Margaret Wycherly. What these and the others are up to is undeniably alive with action.

Apr 23, 2024

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Jane Corby

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Cagney is the whole works in this show, although the story is excellent and the supporting cast is fine. But it’s Cagney who keeps the audience cowed... This Cagney picture is a gangster picture to end all gangster pictures.

Apr 23, 2024

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Ben D

A man (James Cagney) loves his mother (Margaret Wycherly). Everyone else can go to Hell. This is White Heat, a combination of a gangster flick, a heist movie, a prison breakout thriller, and a backstabbing romance. James Cagney’s acting prowess is on full display in this movie where he battles prison guards, old friends, cops, and debilitating migraines. His close-up when he discovers the undercover cop (Edmond O’Brian) is mesmerizing. It’s the kind of shot that’s become so rare it’ll make you sit up in your seat. The final line, “Made it, Ma! Top of the World!” is an Old Hollywood classic and even better in context. Sure, some moments don’t age well — when Jarrett (Cagney) is punching his way through prison guards, it almost feels like a spoof — but the movie is 75 years old. It’s an absolute must-watch for the cinephile and gangster movie aficionado.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/23/25

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Audience Member

Saw this on Movie Night at college in early 70's. It was already an "old movie" that could be rented on actual film reels for cheap dough. We saw 'em all - Casablanca, Maltese Falcon, etc. We got into the big lecture hall for either 50c or free - it's been a long time. There was one projector so there was an automatic intermission between reels! In any event, it was a hoot even back then - the overacting, the "technology" the authorities used to bust the bad guys, the pseudo psychology, etc. I'd say today it's just a relic of what passed for mass entertainment in that era. There was a shift in attitudes from the earlier gangster shoot-em-up's of the 1930's; here crime was depicted as the product of psychosis which an enlightened society could treat and thus permanently rid itself of antisocial behavior. I give it One and a Half Stars for entertainment in a so-bad-it's-good way.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

11/30/24

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Isa B

James Cagney is truly a one of a kind actor. There is no one in the history of cinema quite like him. I am obviously very impressed with his performance in White Heat. It's a classic film that I highly recommend. 94/100

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/28/24

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Narciso R

My favorite Cagney movie. NRJ.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/20/24

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Josh D

Cagney is GREAT! Top Of The World

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/28/24

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Isaiah Y

James Cagney’s greatest performance in one of the greatest crime films ever made

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/26/24

Full Review

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Raoul Walsh

Director

James Cagney

Arthur "Cody" Jarrett

Virginia Mayo

Verna Jarrett

Edmond O'Brien

Vic Pardo

Margaret Wycherly

Ma Jarrett

Steve Cochran

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Synopsis

Gang leader Cody Jarrett (James Cagney) lives for his mother, planning heists between horrible headaches. During a train robbery that goes wrong, Cody shoots an investigator. Realizing Cody will never be stopped if he knows he's being pursued, authorities plant undercover agent Hank (Edmond O'Brien) in Cody's cell. When his mother dies, a distraught Cody breaks out of jail, bringing Hank along to join his gang. With Hank in communication with the police, Cody plans a payroll heist.

Director: Raoul Walsh
Producer: Louis F. Edelman
Screenwriter: Virginia Kellogg, Ivan Goff
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures, Key Video
Production Co: Warner Brothers
Genre: Crime, Drama, Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 2, 1949, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 1, 2009
Runtime: 1h 54m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.37:1)

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