White Heat (1949)

My Review

“White Heat” is a film noir crime drama where James Cagney plays a ruthless psychotic criminal gang leader who gets into all sorts of trouble. Director Raoul Walsh (“Cheyenne” 1947) put together what is generally recognized as one the best gangster films of all time with excellent production values, outstanding character development, memorable performances, and excellent writing by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, from a story by Virginia Kellogg. She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Story.

The cast delivered in the aforementioned performance department, including James Cagney as Cody Jarrett, Virginia Mayo as his wife, Edmund O’Brien and John Archer as Treasury Department agents, Margaret Wycherly as Ma Jarrett, Steve Cochran, Wally Cassell, and Fred Clark as Jarrett’s goons. The very watchable black-and-white noir “White Heat” was a hit at the box office for Warner Bros. Pictures. It was filmed at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, with exterior shoots at various locations around Southern California,