"White Heat" (1949)

"White Heat" (1949). Cagney had ditched Warner Bros a decade earlier and, while not eschewing "tough guy" roles, had avoided playing gangsters in favor of lighter fare like "The Strawberry Blonde," (1941) and "Yankee Doodle Dandy," (1942). If he played tough guys they were good guys "13 Rue Madelaine," (1947). Through the war years, his production decreased and, by the end, his popularity was waning and his finances were tightening. He found himself back at Warners and in a gangster role.

That said, he found a vehicle that allowed him to take the gangster role to another level and set the stage for later films like "The Godfather." Cody Jarrett is no stereotypical carboard cutout criminal. When he talks about walking in the woods and speaking with his dead mother and then, offhandedly admits "Maybe I am crazy." It resonates down through characters like Jack Carter and Michael Corleone.

The film is worthy because of Cagney's performance. Sometimes, though, it gets a little too cute by half - the fascination with police technology (the two radio control tailing scenes) and artifice, (the refitted tanker truck). Edmond O'Brien does his usual credible job as the undercover cop in Jarrett's gang. Steve Cochran and Virginia Mayo as the conniving gang member and the unfaithful wife, are pretty much standard crime drama types. Margaret Wycherly is excellent in another of her "mom" roles. John Archer, as the police detective managing the case pretty much comes off as a proto-Joe Friday (except for the long cigarette holder.)

The tilm manages to touch all the bases - prison riot, big-deal heist etc Even Fred Clark puts in a brief appearance. "Top Of The World, Ma!"