White Heat (1949)

I just finally watched the 1949 James Cagney movie White Heat, and it was cool. James Cagney was great as Cody Jarrett, the crazy, madman (Hitler-like) criminal who has an obsessed and less than healthy relationship w/ his mother (an Oedipal mama's boy). Brutal, psychotic criminal Cody Jarrett trusts no one, least of all his unfaithful wife Verna and overly ambitious right-hand man Ed Sommers; no one, that is, except his equally criminal mother, the only one who can soothe the blinding migraines that plague him. Sent to jail on a charge he fakes to avoid conviction for the more serious crimes of train robbery and murder, Cody takes into his gang smalltime crook Vic Pardo, who is in reality undercover cop Hank Fallon, sent to infiltrate the Jarrett gang. Cody controls his gang from prison via instructions passed to his mother. Later, in the prison mess hall, Cody learns of Ma Jarret's murder. He goes berserk, and it takes several guards to restrain him and drag him screaming from the room. He's put into a straitjacket and placed in the prison clinic, from which he engineers an escape, taking "Pardo" along with him. After a botched payroll-robbery at an oil refinery, Cody learns Pardo is a special agent and tries to kill him.

An exciting, dynamic film in its own right, White Heat also stands out as the flaming finale to the era of stark, fast-paced crime films made famous by Warner Brothers and James Cagney (among other stars) from the 1930s on ­ films in which the focus was on the often violent but charismatic gangster rather than the law enforcement officials who hunt him. It was also the apotheosis of Cagney's brilliant career, a kind of summing up of the memorable outlaw characters he had created. His projects that followed in the 1950s were mostly lackluster affairs, and the cocky, pugnacious star audiences had come to love was glimpsed infrequently in such films as Love Me or Leave Me and Mister Roberts (both 1955). His last big film before retirement was the Billy Wilder Cold War comedy One Two Three (1961). He returned to the screen twenty years later as the turn-of-the-century New York police chief in Ragtime and made one more film, the TV drama Terrible Joe Moran (1984) before his death in 1986.

White Heat, then, is a chance to catch Cagney one last time as the no-holds barred gangster he created in such pictures as The Public Enemy (1931) and Angels with Dirty Faces (1938). Here, however, the character has been pushed to the extreme, and the progression to Cody Jarrett can be traced through a trio of gangster films made by director Raoul Walsh, of which this was the last. In The Roaring Twenties (1939), Cagney's criminal is seen in the context of history and society, a man whose ambition and drive is put to service on the wrong side of the law by the circumstances of time and place. In High Sierra (1941), Walsh cast Humphrey Bogart as Roy "Mad Dog" Earle, a troubled man on the run, the gangster as the last individual in an increasingly soulless world. With White Heat the archetype is pushed to the very edge, depicted as a vicious man gripped by insanity. It's fitting that the image Cagney was so identified with should go out with such a bang.

The spectacular ending aside, the most famous scene in White Heat is undoubtedly the one in which Jarrett gets the news in prison of his mother's death. The news is passed down from inmate to inmate at the prison mess hall tables until it finally reaches Jarrett, who explodes into psychotic grief, staggering around the room landing punches on everyone who gets in his way while letting out a kind of strangled, primal cry. Cagney was once asked by a reporter if he had to "psych" himself up for the scene. Cagney responded, "You don't psych yourself up for these things, you do them," reiterating his very non-Method philosophy that working on inward emotional motivation is a waste of time leading to a performance solely for the actor himself. According to Cagney, an actor shouldn't psych himself up to be the character, he should simply understand the character and play it for the audience. His only preparation for the scene, he later said, was remembering a visit as a youngster to see a friend's uncle who was in a psychiatric hospital. "My God, what an education," he said. "The shrieks, the screams of those people under restraint. I remembered those cries, saw that they fitted, and I called on my memory to do as required."

In some ways, White Heat is also a swan song for Warner Brothers, the studio that had become known for quickly produced, gritty action-oriented pictures with a social conscience. By the time this film was released, the Supreme Court had forced the big Hollywood studios to divest themselves of their lucrative theater chains, and the stock company that had made Warners so successful in the 1930s and early '40s had either left the studio or were on their way out. Several stars had already made their last movies under their long-term contracts: Ida Lupino in 1947, Olivia De Havilland in 1946, Ann Sheridan in 1949 and "Little Caesar" Edward G. Robinson in Key Largo (1948). Humphrey Bogart's last Warners picture would be The Enforcer (1951), and Errol Flynn would exit in 1953. Even 'Queen of the Lot' Bette Davis was history, storming out of her contract after the over-the-top melodrama Beyond the Forest (1949), and not to return until Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962).

Cagney had already quit the studio after his Oscar®-winning turn as George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). "Movies should be entertaining, not blood baths," he said in the last days of his Warners contract. "I'm sick of carrying a gun and beating up women." He formed his own production company with his brother William, and for the next five years their pictures were distributed by United Artists. There were, however, only four films in those years, none of them very successful financially. So Cagney returned to Warner Brothers with a degree of autonomy (his production company remained intact) and made the kind of "blood bath" he had turned his back on seven years earlier. "It's what people want me to do," he grumbled. "Someday, though, I'd like to make just one picture kids could go see."For all his grumbling, though, White Heat remains one of the crowning achievements of Cagney's career. It's hard to imagine another actor of the time convincingly pulling off this all-stops-out portrayal of Cody Jarrett. And this is no mere farewell or throwback to another era. It has the volatile dynamism of the best gangster flicks of the '30s and '40s, but it mixes in important tendencies taking shape in post-war cinema. The train robbery heralds the attention to the logistical details of a crime that would play such a vital element in films like John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and Stanley Kubrick's The Killing (1956). It displays elements of the documentary style made popular by Naked City (1948) and similar movies. And it shares something of the film noir style in its often shadowy cinematography and focus on its lead character's twisted psychology.

White Heat was Raoul Walsh's best film since High Sierra, another powerful thriller set in the same vicinity. But he directed another Warners star famous for playing gangsters, his first work with Cagney since The Strawberry Blonde (which I personally prefer to this movie) in 1941. (Of course, he directed both Cagney and Bogart in The Roaring Twenties.) White Heat is arguably the finest work of Walsh's impressive career, and the director always gave credit to Cagney for adding fascinating layers of depth to the character. Perhaps the richest performance of his career, it--like Rocky Sullivan in Angels with Dirty Faces--should have brought Jim an Oscar; but, as in 1938, the Academy still didn't give Best Actor awards for gangster portrayals (ha-ha). Cagney's Academy Award for Yankee Doodle Dandy was won as much by the patriotic character and subject matter as by the actual performance (but Jimmy Cagney preferred that way, and so do I). White Heat was the six Warners film to depict a relationship between a Cagney character and his mother. Interestingly, it was the first to bump off Mom, a character who would never again appear in a Cagney film released by Warners.

As we all know, like many other classic films, this film is not safe from the parodying clutches of some TV shows such as The Simpsons. In The Simpsons, Bart paraphrases Cody Jarrett's famous quote "Made it, Ma! Top of the world!" while riding a globe in an episode from season 10 called The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace.

I didn't really watch the shooting scenes because they were too dramatic. Anyway, this film is a must for any James Cagney fan, but I have a legitimate reason for such procrastination: I never really liked James Cagney's famous films, including Yankee Doodle Dandy. I really preferred films like Footlight Parade, Taxi!, Hard to Handle, some of his underrated works. I do not care for the famous ones, especially Angels with Dirty Faces. Happy Commenting!!!
(Next blog [for sure]: Monkey Business [1931])

Clips from White Heat:

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

I just recently watched the 1939 James Cagney movie The Roaring Twenties (sorry it took me a while before writing it), and it was very dramatic. James Cagney was great as Eddie Bartlett, the former World War I veteran/cab driver who goes from being a big shot Prohibition-era bootlegging gangster to a poor, disheveled drunkard bum. (For those of you who are Simpsons fan, you gotta admit that the last name Bartlett is pretty sweet.)

Characters in The Roaring Twenties were based loosely on actual Prohibition-era personalities, such as nightclub hostess Texas Guinan ("Hello, sucker!" was her refrain to club patrons) and New York gangster Larry Fay, who was reportedly the model for the literary character Jay Gatsby.) Incorporating newsreel clips and popular music from the period, and a voiceover by an omniscient reporter who assures the audience that what theyare about to see is based on true events, The Roaring Twenties has something of a pseudo-documentary feel.

Humphrey Bogart was also terrific in this film; two years later, he would get his famous big break in his role as detective Sam Spade in the film The Maltese Falcon—which is another film that I had to watch in film class—and in his role as a gangster on the lam in High Sierra (the character's name in that movie escapes me at the moment). This was Cagney and Bogie's last film together; the other films they made together were Angels with Dirty Faces—which was made the year before—and The Oklahoma Kid.

Cagney found that the freedom to improvise that Walsh allowed him helped boost the script into an above-average genre film. Cagney recalled the collaborative atmosphere on the set, remembering how one actor, Frank McHugh (who was back as Cagney's faithful sidekick), suggested a different opening scenario than the one provided in the script. All agreed to trash the opening scene and go with McHugh's suggestion, thus providing the irreverent banter between Cagney and Bogart, who meet as doughboys in a World War I foxhole.

Cagney reminisced later about the little touches that he felt "added flavor to bland writing," including the addition of the hilarious exchange between his character and Priscilla Lane's, in which his advances are turned down in humiliating fashion. In another scene, Cagney spiced up a run-of-the-mill fight by positioning one opponent to accidentally hit another adversary after being punched by Cagney's character. The film also benefits from an able supporting cast -- notably Gladys George (who inherited the part from Ann Sheridan) as the Texas Guinan character, plus McHugh and Lane, as Cagney's romantic interest.

I didn't really watch the shooting scenes in this film because I thought they were too dramatic. And I didn't feel sorry for Cagney when Priscilla Lane dumped him and went for Jeffrey Lynn instead; he didn't deserve her. (And there is an awkward scene where Lane climbs into Cagney's cab years later and she tells him about her present life while he just grunts in reponse because he doesn't forgive her for dumping him years ago. What an awkward reunion!) And the ship scene, where Cagney and his gang are trying to bootleg liquor, in this film reminded me of a scene in a Simpsons episode (which is on a post on my Simpsons blogpost) where Homer, Bart, and a group led by Mr. Burns travel to an island holding sugar to smuggle it into Springfield after Marge declares a war against sugar products when the city is declared "America's Fattest Town!" by a world records book.

The film did extremely good at the box office and Cagney won a Best Actor award from the National Board of Review -- quite an accomplishment in a year that saw the premieres of such classics as Gone With the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, and Stagecoach.
The Roaring Twenties turned out to be a transitional film in Cagney's career; his subsequent roles during the 1940s would focus on his song-and-dance talents in such movies as Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). Walsh would work with Bogart again in They Drive By Night (1940) and High Sierra (1941), in which Bogart started to create the world-weary character that would be most identified with the Bogie legend. Ten years after The Roaring Twenties, Cagney would reunite with Walsh for White Heat (1949), in which he would revive the gangster character that put him on the map. (And as an end-of-the-year present for you folks, I'll probably do a review blog on that film. ) I would recommend this film for James Cagney fans who love to see the guy in gangster films. And again, folks, happy commenting!!!

(Next blog: Yankee Doodle Dandy [1942])
Clips from The Roaring Twenties:

The Strawberry Blonde (1941)

I've recently been watching the 1941 James Cagney movie, The Strawberry Blonde and it is a very delightful romantic comedy. As well as James Cagney, it features other famous stars such as Olivia DeHavilland and Rita Hayworth. I really liked how the film had that turn-of-the-century look and how Rita Hayworth plays the love interest. I always knew that she was a sex queen like Marilyn Monroe—but not as iconic—and this must be the role that established that status. Olivia de Havilland returns as Cagney's girlfriend—she previously played a similar role in The Irish in Us (1935)—even though she doesn't start out that way because she is one of those woman suffragists who were common during the turn of the century and Cagney's character has old-fashioned values.

I found it kind of curious that Cagney was starring that takes place around the time during which he was born (he was born in 1899). What I also noticed about him in this film is that his voice is more high-pitched than normal and that he uses his body more (or maybe the speed of the film was faster than normal). When I first saw this film, I didn't really feel sorry for Cagney when he struggles to win Hayworth's love (even though I've had similar experiences, it's still very cruel of me); however, whenever I watch this film now, I feel sympathy for him, especially when he hears that Rita Hayworth eloped with his rival. (In that same scene, I find the giggling girl who's date of one of Cagney's friends very annoying and weird !)

No matter what, I still found James Cagney terrific as Biff Grimes, a New York corresponding dental student who loves Rita Hayworth but finds himself marrying Olivia de Havilland out of spite against his supposed friend, who he feels is walking over him. I also find it very funny that James Cagney takes his revenge on his rival near the end of the film by pulling out his painful tooth without gas! That could be a legitimate reason for being afraid of going to the dentist: You're paranoid that the dentist could take revenge against you—if he has any reason to. It was also in this film that I've realized how short James Cagney actually is; he seems so dimuinitive compared to his co-stars. (Of course, I'm short myself, so it's no big deal for me. James Cagney was actually taller than I am.)

I'm very sorry if this film review isn't as good as the other film reviews, but I don't know enough about this film, except that the screenplay was written by the Epstein brothers, the same guys who wrote the screenplay for Casablanca. As for the recommendations, I would recommend it for James Cagney fans who love to see the guy in romantic comedies and other versatile roles (as well as being a romantic comedy, this film is also a drama). Once again, comments & opinions on this film are encouraged!