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White Heat

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White Heat

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Summary

A psychopathic gangster obsessed with his mother masterminds his criminal operations from prison. He breaks out following a foiled attempt on his life by one of his henchmen, and leads his gang on a criminal rampage - unaware that the fellow escapee who saved his life is an undercover detective. Gangster drama, starring James Cagney, Edmond O'Brien and Virginia Mayo.

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Review

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

Adrian Turner

"Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" shrieks a demented James Cagney from the top of an oil tank before going out in a blaze of vainglory. Directed by Raoul Walsh, this is one of the greatest of all gangster pictures, a nightmarish excursion into the maladjusted mind of Arthur Cody Jarrett, a thug who sits on his mother's knee, steals and kills for pure pleasure, and probably sucks his thumb in private. All the major gangster heroes of the 1930s - one thinks of Paul Muni in Scarface, Cagney in The Public Enemy, Edward G Robinson in Little Caesar - had their psychological problems, but here Cagney is a whole library of Freudian theory put through the blender, and the poor lad suffers from epilepsy to boot. Operatic and sinisterly funny, the film is utterly compelling.

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8.1/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameArthur Cody JarrettJames CagneyVerna JarrettVirginia MayoHank Fallon / Vic PardoEdmond O'BrienMa JarrettMargaret Wycherly"Big Ed" SomersSteve CochranPhilip EvansJohn ArcherGiovanni "Cotton" ValettiWally CassellHet KohlerMickey KnoxBo CreelIan MacDonaldDaniel Winston, the traderFred Clark

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Crew

rolenameDirectorRaoul Walsh

Details

Released on

1950-01-09

Languages

English

Available on

video, DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Black and white

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