White Heat

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Synopsis

James Cagney delivers a tour-de-force performance as a murderously psychotic criminal mastermind with an overpowering mother complex in the crime thriller White Heat.

While in prison, Cody Jarrett (Cagney) befriends an undercover cop (Edmund O'Brien) posing as a young thug--appearing to idolize the hard-bitten gangster who suffers from semi-epileptic seizures, outbursts of frightening violence and an almost incestuous attachment to his mother. Released from prison, Jarrett plots a seemingly perfect heist, unaware that his partners plan to kill him and his right-hand man is working for the police. Cornered, Jarrett chooses to go out in an explosive act of self-immolation rather than surrender in this classic of the gangster genre.

Movie info:

Release:

1949

Running Time:

114 min

Certificate:

Contains moderate violence

Availability:

Watch online: Unavailable
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Genre:

Cast:

Director:

Raoul Walsh

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Sam Spade
Brutal and thrilling gangster movie
06 December 2008
James Cagney brings a violent intensity to the psychotic protagonist Cody Jarrett in this classic gangster movie. Jarrett is a cold, brutal and threatening villain who is only off-guard when alone with his controlling mother. They have an unusually intimate relationship, and when Jarrett falls victims to his own horrific fits, she is the only one who can sooth him. When an undercover cop joins Jarrett’s gang the story becomes thrilling, building to a tight and suspenseful climax surrounding a robbery at a chemical plant. The film is also fascinating for the methods and technologies used by police for tracking criminals, including mobile radars attached to patrol cars. Still remarkably violent and brutal, this movie has not lost any of its power.
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