Visions of Cody- James Cagney’s “White Heat”- A Film Review

Click on the headline to link to a Wikipedia entry for the film noir White Heat.

DVD Review

White Heat, starring James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O’Brien, Warner Brothers, 1949

Every parent, every mother in particular, wishes nothing but the best for his or her son or daughter and will do everything within their power to help out. Now usually those best wishes revolve around going to college, starting a legit business, or learning a legit craft but not as the film under review the classic gangster film, White Heat, amply demonstrates aiding and abetting run-of-the-mill criminal activities like murder, mayhem and armed robbery . See in this film noir mother dear is part of the problem, part of sonny boy’s problem, and drives some of the psychological aspects of the film (psycho aspects, really)

The usual run of the mill gangster is just a guy up from nowhere and through striving, striving hard, in the underworld thicket works his way to the top, or dies in the attempt. Usually that race to the top is done solo but here gangster Cody Jarrett’s (played by James Cagney to a tee) Mom is right there to egg her boy on. And that is not without consequences because in the long drawn out process of becoming king of the hill Cody has become nothing but a stone cold psycho-killer as part of his resume.

However even stone cold killers with “heartbreaking” back stories need kale, dough and so this film is, of necessary, is about a few heists to keep him and his boys in clover (and of course his split cut 50-50 with Ma). And because the theme of crime noir, in the end, is always about how crime doesn’t pay about how the good guys (the fed T-men in this case) foil his plans poor boy Cody has got to fall. Along the way we get to see the way that the G-men bring old Cody down (have a man, played by Edmond O’Brien, infiltrate the gang), about his marital problems keeping his two-timing wife (played by fetching Virginia Mayo) focused and about how he gets even with dissidents in his organization (bang-bang, okay). But this one really is about, as always, how the parents always get blamed for the errors of the kids. Oh, and about why James Cagney was the king hell king of the gangster films back in the day.