White Heat

Made it, Ma! Top of the world!”

James Cagney – Arthur ‘Cody’ Jarrett
Virginia Mayo – Verna Jarrett
Edmond O’Brien – Vic Pardo
Margaret Wycherly – Ma Jarrett
Steve Cochran – Big Ed Somers

This review contains major spoilers

White Heat opens with an dynamic train shot leaving a tunnel. A shot that is as exciting as those train shots found in Doctor Zhivago. James Cagney stars in this
film that stands up today with its clever use of surveillance, damsel in distress and betrayals. It's opening competes with that of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in the train robbery scene. Cody Jarrett played by James Cagney is much more brutal and menacing.

The cinematography is sharp making good use of low angle and tracking shots. There is always movement in the movie adding to the tension and progress to the story.
The lines add punch to this classic as well, “if that battery is dead it will have company.” Cody is a ruthless yet charismatic killer but only has one weakness – his domineering mother, Ma Jarrett which is counterbalanced by his power he has over his crew and wife. She is the only one that can get her hooks into him as seen in the drive-in cinema scene. He talks disparagingly to his wife Verna but affectionately to his mother. This tension is seen throughout as they both compete for his attention. She also sits next to him with his wife farthest away symbolizing the level of importance these two women in his life. This is further proven as he kisses his mother goodbye first and then his wife.

After the tunnel robbery of the Federal Reserve train he discusses how he will take the rap for the Springfield hotel robbery job for a lesser sentence. Once inside as an informant Hank is planted by detective Philip Evans to befriend and get information on Cody. Cody suspects him as possible threat of sorts. Hank stuck out considering he didn’t seem like the criminal type despite compensating trough violent behavior as in the line to get the shot. Eventually Cody lets his guard down as Hank saves his life from a falling mechanism in the prison. This leads to Cody’s undoing as Hank sets him and his whole crew up.

This film shows Verna Jarrett, Cody’s, to be less than angelic. She is a blonde dressed in white similar to Martin Scorsese’s character of Ginger in Casino. At first she is introduced as a sleeping naiveté but later is shown to be anything but that. The soft focus shot as she helps Cody plan to kill Big Ed shows her muddled and conflicting feelings for both of them. She flirts with Big Ed and tries to find any angle she can to save herself from Cody’s possible imprisonment. The funniest scene is when she tries to cut a deal with the cops and they ignore her story and send her to jail. She flirts ferociously to try to save herself but nothing works.

The large Xs at the refinery add visual symbolism marking the impending doom and deaths around the corner. They are seen throughout the film adding visual dynamism.

The film deals with heavy use of surveillance and informants to build tension. The best in the car surveillance used to triangulate the location of Cody’s car. Cody’s biggest mistake is letting his guard down with Hank. When Cody finds out his mother is dead hopefully his final weakness died as well but his trust of Hank proved to his ultimate undoing. The scene where he has his meltdown adds some humor to its similarity of the breakdown of Jerry Maguire after being fired in Jerry Maguire. During both meltdowns everyone watches stunned, when they leave they all return to their business, classic. The getaway scene is powerful and is dynamic like that of Michael Mann’s Public Enemies.