White Heat
Review by Paul Preston
Welcome to Today I Watched…, a series of posts documenting my new challenge – watch a movie a day for the rest of my life. Keep coming back to TheMovieGuys.net to find out what I watch each day…and get my take on it.
When I see a movie that’s a new release in theaters or for home viewing, I’ll give it a proper review in the “Reviews”, otherwise, I’ll write about it here.
Feb. 21, 2017 – La La Land – Saw this for the second time and posted a full defense of this injustly-maligned masterpiece in the ARTICLES category of TheMovieGuys.net.
Feb. 22, 2017 – I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore – catch the review of this Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner in the HOME VIEWING category of TheMovieGuys.net.
Feb. 23, 2017 – White Heat
Living in Los Angeles is great because of nights like the one I had tonight at Glendale, California’s landmark Alex Theatre. The Alex Film Society schedules about a half dozen plus classic films a year in this entertainment center, keeping cinema alive in and around concerts, dance troupes and other rental companies. Between this, The New Beverly Cinema, Cinefamily, Arclight Presents and The American Cinematheque at The Egyptian and Aero Theatres, there’s a classic movie going on in Los Angeles every night of the year. AS IT SHOULD BE.
On Feb. 23rd, I crossed another classic film off my list with a screening at the Alex of James Cagney’s gangster classic, White Heat. I hadn’t seen it up until now, and that’s what The Movie Guys call Movie Jail. If there’s a classic you should’ve seen by now, but you haven’t, off to Movie Jail with you. It was good to break out of Movie Jail with this one, with Cagney in classic tough guy mode as a crook on the lam after a train heist. What’s unique, especially for a film in 1949, is the complexities of Cagney’s character, Cody Jarrett, who is riddled with debilitating headaches, ones that seemingly come from his own damaged psyche. They humanize this otherwise unrepentant killer. His only confidant is his mother (“Ma”), who’s not exactly Carol Brady.
In a move preceding Infernal Affairs by nearly fifty years, another cop goes deep undercover in Jarrett’s circle, Hank Fallon, played by Edmund O’Brien. It’s O’Brien’s performance that really won me over. I have to admit to being under-versed on his appearances (I’ve seen The Wild Bunch), but I was shocked how “of the moment” O’Brien’s acting was. When he’s not overcome with sadness or pain, Cagney is doing a stylized ‘40s mobster and his girlfriend Virginia Mayo is doing “dame in distress” as she finds herself torn between two guys, but it’s as if O’Brien is in The Departed. If you watch 1940 Best Picture winner Rebecca, you’ll see Laurence Olivier, one of the greatest actors of all time, doing the style of the time – quick delivery, snap-to-it emotions and more. It’s clear he was putting it on for this film, adjusting to the filmmaking style of the time. O’Brien is having none of that. He’s laconic with is co-workers, sharp and quick-witted when undercover and overall thoughtful and risky. I loved his performance and now that I’m seeing a movie a day, I’ll be taking in more Edmund O’Brien.
By the end, White Heat delivers a pretty dense plot. Lots of good cops and robbers and watching one group trail the other using 1940s technology is a hoot. And it all culminates in Cagney’s classic line, “Top of the world, Ma!”. If you’re in L.A. and not taking advantage of revival cinema, you are depriving yourself of the history of Earth’s greatest art form. The Big Sleep is next at the Alex in April. Don’t miss it (oh hell, I’m back in Movie Jail again…).
Directed by: Raoul Walsh
Release Date: September 3, 1949
Run Time: 114 Minutes
Country: USA
Rated: NR
Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures
