White Heat (1949)

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Ivan Goff (screen play) and
Ben Roberts (screen play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

3 September 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

James Cagney Is Red Hot In "White Heat"!

Plot:

A psychopathic criminal 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

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Heist | Undercover | Killer | Escape

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

James Cagney	...	Cody Jarrett
Virginia Mayo	...	Verna Jarrett
Edmond O'Brien	...	Hank Fallon / Vic Pardo
Margaret Wycherly	...	Ma Jarrett
Steve Cochran	...	Big Ed Somers
John Archer	...	Philip Evans
Wally Cassell	...	Cotton Valletti
Fred Clark	...	Trader Winston
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joel Allen	...	Operative (uncredited)
Claudia Barrett	...	Cashier (uncredited)
Ray Bennett	...	Guard (uncredited)
Marshall Bradford	...	Chief of Police (uncredited)
John Butler	...	Motorist at Gas Station (uncredited)
Robert Carson	...	Agent at Directional Map (uncredited)
Bill Cartledge	...	Car-Hop at Drive-In Theatre (uncredited)
Leo Cleary	...	Railroad Fireman (uncredited)
Fred Coby	...	Happy Taylor (uncredited)
Tom Coleman	...	Court Officer (uncredited)
G. Pat Collins	...	The Reader (uncredited)
Garrett Craig	...	Ted Clark (uncredited)
Herschel Daugherty	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Fern Eggen	...	Margaret Baxter (uncredited)
Charles Ferguson	...	Plant Detective (uncredited)
Art Foster	...	Guard (uncredited)
Eddie Foster	...	Lefeld (uncredited)
Robert Foulk	...	Oil Refinery Payroll Guard (uncredited)
Buddy Gorman	...	Vendor at Drive-in (uncredited)
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Roy Parker (uncredited)
Sherry Hall	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)
Carl Harbaugh	...	Foreman (uncredited)
Clarence Hennecke	...	Small Role (uncredited)
Perry Ivins	...	Dr. Simpson (uncredited)
Colin Kenny	...	Prison Guard (uncredited)
Mickey Knox	...	Het Kohler (uncredited)
Harry Lauter	...	Man with Microphone in Back Seat of Car (uncredited)
DeForrest Lawrence	...	Jim Donovan (uncredited)
Nolan Leary	...	Russ (uncredited)
Murray Leonard	...	Engineer (uncredited)
Ian MacDonald	...	Bo Creel (uncredited)
Larry McGrath	...	Clocker (uncredited)
John McGuire	...	Psychiatrist #2 (uncredited)
Sid Melton	...	Russell Hughes (uncredited)
Art Miles	...	Guard (uncredited)
Ray Montgomery	...	Ernie (uncredited)
Terry O'Sullivan	...	Radio Announcer (uncredited)
Robert Osterloh	...	Tommy Ryley (uncredited)
Milton Parsons	...	Willie Rolf (uncredited)
Jack Perrin	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Jack Perry	...	Convict (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Prison Tower Guard (uncredited)
Eddie Phillips	...	T-Man (uncredited)
John Pickard	...	T-Man Driving Car C (uncredited)
Ford Rainey	...	Zuckie Hommell (uncredited)
Joey Ray	...	T-Man (uncredited)
Grandon Rhodes	...	Dr. Harris - Psychiatrist #1 (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre	...	Plant Detective (uncredited)
George Spaulding	...	Judge (uncredited)
Harry Strang	...	Prison Infirmary Guard (uncredited)
George Taylor	...	Police Surgeon at Tahoe Morgue (uncredited)
Jim Thorpe	...	Big Convict (uncredited)
Jim Toney	...	Brakeman (uncredited)
Ralph Volkie	...	Jerry - The Reader's Lawyer (uncredited)
Jack Worth	...	Guard (uncredited)

Directed by
Raoul Walsh

Writing credits
Ivan Goff		(screen play) and
Ben Roberts		(screen play)
Virginia Kellogg		(suggested by a story by)

Produced by
Louis F. Edelman	....	producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Sidney Hickox		(director of photography) (as Sid Hickox)

Film Editing by
Owen Marks

Art Direction by
Edward Carrere

Set Decoration by
Fred M. MacLean

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist
Edwin Allen	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Gertrude Wheeler	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Russell Saunders	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Leslie G. Hewitt	....	sound

Special Effects by
Roy Davidson	....	special effects director
Hans F. Koenekamp	....	special effects (as H.F. Koenekamp)

Stunts
Audrey Scott	....	stunt double: Virginia Mayo (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Frank Bjerring	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Paul Burnett	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Mike Joyce	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Dudie Maschmeyer	....	grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Leah Rhodes	....	wardrobe
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Music Department
Murray Cutter	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Irva Mae Ross	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. (A Warner Bros.-First National Picture)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (presents)
• Warner Bros. (1953) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Dominant Pictures Corporation (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• atlas Film (1965) (West Germany) (theatrical) (re-release)
• United Artists Television (1976) (USA) (all media)
• Turner Entertainment (1987) (USA) (TV) (colorized)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Turner Home Entertainment (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Key Video (video)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• TV3 (1989) (Finland) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (2010) (Canada) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1984) (Finland) (TV)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

114 min | West Germany:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:(Banned) (1950) | Finland:K-15 (2004) | USA:Approved (PCA #13852) | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Iceland:12 | UK:15 | West Germany:16 (nf) | Sweden:(Banned) (original rating) (1949) | Sweden:15 (re-rating) (1962) | Canada:PG (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Portugal:M/16 | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

2720 Winona Avenue, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros.

Trivia:

Cameo: [Jim Thorpe]the sports legend is one of the cons in the "telephone game".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After the train job at the first hide-out, some of the gang is gathered around the 1947 Cadillac 75 limo listening to the radio news about their caper. A shot of the interior shows a chrome "Cadillac" script on a plate above the radio speaker grille. This plate must be removed when a radio is installed as this is where the dial, controls, and push buttons are located. Since the plate is still present, it means in reality there is no radio in the car.

Quotes:

Cody Jarrett:We got enough food for a week, what'd she have to go to the market for?
Verna Jarrett:You like strawberries, don't you? She just HAD to get some for her boy.
[Cody kicks the footstool out from under her]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore (2010) (V)

Soundtrack:

Five O'Clock Whistle

Made it Ma... Top of the world!

They sure don't make them like this any more!

Blessed with a touch of genius...

Alfred Hitchcock once said that you need three things in order to make a good movie : good script, good script and good script! This is a perfect example of that statement. It is as simple as that! This movie is made in 1949 and today,almost 55 years later, it still holds up and is up there with the best gangster dramas of all time. Many would disagree but frankly who cares? None of the modern gangster flicks would be the same without existence of this movie, thats for sure. The script is just great,the score is excellent and dialog is amazing!!! (try comparing it with the standards of today) Every third sentence coming out of Cody Jarretts mouth is endlessly quotable, this movie is Scarface of its time. Cagneys character in this movie is larger than life, one of the greatest gangster characters of all time... James Cagney - perhaps his greatest performance ever! I see that some fools criticize his performance,saying that it isn't great at all. My question to you is : How many movies from '40s have you seen? How wooden was the acting in those days? The answer - extremely. There were few great actors in those days, whose genius could hold up against the acting giants of today and one of them is surely James Cagney!

One of top 10-15 gangster movies of all time!