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Movies / Upcoming / White Heat
White Heat

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White Heat (1949)

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Reviews Counted:28

Fresh:28

Rotten:0

Average Rating:8.4/10

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.

Runtime: 1 hr 54 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: James Cagney solidified his tough guy persona in this brutal gangster opus about a vicious man who still loves his Ma. Cody Jarrett, the leader of a gang out west, has been busy knocking over... James Cagney solidified his tough guy persona in this brutal gangster opus about a vicious man who still loves his Ma. Cody Jarrett, the leader of a gang out west, has been busy knocking over banks and holding up trains. Complicating matters some, he has in tow his beloved Ma, his cool blonde beauty, Verna, and a suave double-crossing hood, Big Ed. The feds manage to put Cody behind bars on a minor charge. They then decide to plant an undercover agent in Cody's prison cell to win his confidence and encourage him to spill the beans about his criminal history. After a prison riot, Cody escapes. He leads the police on a chase through a mazelike chemical factory that culminates Cody's life of crime... and Cody insists on going out in his own blaze of glory. [More]

Starring: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Steve Cochran

Starring: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Steve Cochran, John Archer, Wally Cassell, Fred Clark, Ford Rainey

Director: Raoul Walsh

Director: Raoul Walsh
Producer: Louis F. Edelman
Composer: Max Steiner

[See More Credits]

Reviews for White Heat

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Brilliantly directed by Raoul Walsh, an old master of cinema hoodlumism, it returns a more subtle James Cagney to the kind of thug role that made him famous.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
04/27/09
TIME Magazine

Cagney has an excellent supporting cast.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
04/27/09
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Magnificent examination of the criminal mind and Cagney's finest moment.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/27/09
David Parkinson
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Raoul Walsh's heroes had a knack for going too far, but none went further than James Cagney in this roaring 1949 gangster piece.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
04/27/09
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

Cagney supercharges the entire film with frenetic energy.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
10/09/08
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

Its archetypal influence on later films like Goodfellas and the Al Pacino Scarface is striking, even if we can never again experience how new and bold it was back in its day....

Full Review Source: DVDJournal.com | comment Comment
04/05/06
Mark Bourne
Mark Bourne
DVDJournal.com

Despite chronology (deranged by the censor's influence on the studios), this is really the fitting climax of the '30s gangster movie.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out

Cagney, intenso como de hábito, cria um personagem que, apesar de sua óbvia instabilidade psicológica e de sua crueldade patológica, conquista o espectador com sua carência emocional.

comment Comment
11/22/05
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

No review available.

comment Comment
10/21/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

No review available.

comment Comment
08/14/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Film noir masterpiece, with brilliant direction and visual style

Full Review Source: Classic Film and Television | comment Comment
05/28/05
Michael E. Grost
Michael E. Grost
Classic Film and Television

Cagney gives an utterly ferocious performance, arguably his finest, as Cody Jarrett, a psychotic gangster with an unholy mother fixation.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
03/21/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

White Heat is vigorous and uncompromising. Cagney is all kinetic energy and raw nerve.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
02/24/05
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

If you're looking for Cagney's best gangster role ever, you got it right here, on the top of the world.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
02/05/05
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

White Heat’s ultimate message: love’s a *****…even crypto-incestuous love.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
02/04/05
Eric Henderson
Eric Henderson
Slant Magazine

Cagney's finest hour and one of the best gangster pictures ever made.

comment Comment
04/23/04
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

No review available.

comment Comment
02/04/04
Lori Hoffman
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly

No review available.

comment Comment
08/22/03
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

A very entertaining classic gangster film from the 1940s.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
06/13/03
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

There's a freewheeling brutality about the picture.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/24/03
Channel 4 Film
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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