White Heat Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: White Heat
Year: 1949
Director: Raoul Walsh
Country: US
Language: English

During the 1930s, Cagney had starred in a number of classic gangster pictures for Warner Bros., the studio most associated with screen gangsters. At the time, no real thought was put into why people become criminals. It was simply thought of as an unhinged social conscience that enjoyed the  freedom of  violence. While Europe had a more complex view of criminality and justice (see Fritz Lang's M) , it was in stark contrast to Hollywood's depiction. White Heat (1949) changed all this when he returned to the genre to embody a psychopathic, yet sympathetic, character. 

 A criminal (James Cagney) with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. Shortly after the plan takes place, events take a crazy turn

Warner Bros. was once considered Hollywood's most violent student, churning gritty hits like The Public Enemy (1931) and Angels with Dirty Faces (1938). Although they would face extensive criticism due to glorifying such horrendous behavior, they would make a fortune off the genre. Taboo subjects were welcomed and practiced, including passionate anti-Nazism (Confessions of a Nazi Spy) even when the United States maintained its isolationist stance. White Heat was taboo because  it effectively bonds us to Cody’s emotional makeup, although without romanticizing his criminality.

Unlike most films made during the era of the production code, White Heat contains little or no overriding moral lesson about the state of criminality in America. It doesn't attempt to explain that "crime doesn't pay" or  why the love of criminality is wrong. Cagney's natural charisma keeps the character from being a complete psychopath; rather he is a tragic figure who deserves to be at least somewhat pitied. 

White Heat manages to pay homage to the studio's older classics, while slipping in some new Freudian complexity absent from films of the time. It was the final gangster picture of Warner Brothers, and a great farewell at that. Innovative and bold, Cagney showed us why he is one of the finest actors to ever grace the silver screen.