White Heat (1949)

 The Tunnel Job. Iron Horse vs a Caddy.

A 1947 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 vs a 4-6-2 Southern Pacific numbered #2440 pulling a passenger train. A rattler is what Charles McGraw calls 'em in The Narrow Margin. As the the train chugs up the winding grade in the Sierras,  the Caddy climbs the two lane.

1947 Cadillac Fleetwood 75

Cody Jarrett (James Cagney) and Het Kohler (Mickey Knox) 

It's a train robbery circa 1949. A six man gang led by Cody Jarrett (James Cagney) got it all planned out. Two inside men on the train, one of them Big Ed Somers (Steve Cochran) the other Het Kohler (Mickey Knox) throw down on the two conductors. Up track Jarrett and a former railroad engineer,  now the newest gang member, throw a switch that will make the express take siding when it emerges from a tunnel.

When the express emerges from the portalm Jarrett leaps onto the coal tender pulls his gun and and tells the engineer to slow down. The former engineer hops on and  takes over and pulls the express up the siding to a rendezvous with the Caddy.

 4-6-2 Southern Pacific 

Cody climbing to the portal of  the tunnel

"Slow Down"

Engineer: What's this, a hold-up?
Cody Jarrett: Naw, naw, you're seven minutes late. We're just changin' engineers...

The gangs engineer accidentally mentions Cody's name and this is what first gets Cody agitated. A minute later Cody shoots the Southern Pacific engineer after he calls Cody by his name. He blasts the fireman next. The fireman drops but trips an exhaust lever that scalds the former engineer now down on the tracks.

Scalded

The rest of the gang then blows the Railway Express car and grabs the loot. Two more dead four in all. They scram, Big Ed grabs the steam scalded engineer that Cody was going to abandon.

So begins White Heat. Directed by Raoul Walsh who gave us quite a few memorable films, The Roaring Twenties, High Sierra, and They Drive by Night among the most impressive.

White Heat was written by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and story was suggested by a piece by Virginia Kellogg. Cinematography was by Sidney Hickox and Music was by Max Steiner.

The film stars James Cagney as Arthur "Cody" Jarrett, Virginia Mayo as Verna Jarrett, Edmond O'Brien as Hank Fallon, Margaret Wycherly as "Ma" Jarrett, Steve Cochran as "Big Ed" Somers, John Archer as Philip Evans, Wally Cassell as "Cotton" Valletti, Fred Clark as Daniel "The Trader" Winston. Uncredited cast include G. Pat Collins as "Reader" Curtin. Paul Guilfoyle as Roy Parker, Ian MacDonald as "Bo" Creel, Robert Osterloh as Tommy Ryley, and Ford Rainey as "Zuckie" Hommel.

A week after the robbery the gang is holed up in some back-country bungalow. Cabin fever. Being cooped up with Cody takes it's toll. Big Ed knows Cody is a crackpot. Cody also has his Ma and his floozy wife Verna at the hideout. Cody gets headaches. He's got "buzz saws" in his noggin he calls them.

"buzz saws"

He collapses and blanks out when he gets these attacks. Cody sits on Ma's lap and she comforts him.

Steve Cochran as "Big Ed" Somers, Fred Coby as Happy Taylor and  Wally Cassell as "Cotton" Valletti

Verna (Virginia Mayo) who knows how to wear out a mattress

Margaret Wycherly as "Ma" Jarrett, and Virginia Mayo as Verna Jarrett

When they find out from a radio report that a blizzard is on the way they decide to split. Verna wants Cody to take all the cash and screw the rest of the gang. Cute. Verna wants a fur coat. Verna we hear from Cody looks good in a shower curtain and Ma says the Verna is real good for wearing out a mattress. Wink, wink.

"you look good in a shower curtain."

Verna we notice also likes Big Ed.

The gang heads to L.A. Before they leave the cabin Cody wants Cotton to finish off the scalded engineer. Nice guy.  Cotton can't do it. He fires a few rounds into the roof to make Cody think he done the deed, and gives the guy a pack of cigs. Cotton tells him he'll be back for him. He never goes back.

The engineer doesn't make it, his frozen body is found by hunters.

L.A. City Hall with gas holder in b.g.

The gang checks into a Milbanke Motels a sort of Service Station Motel chain that was at one time  "all over Los Angeles" It also rented by the week or month so it catered to transients.

1949 Lincoln Sport Sedan

Cody's freedom doesn't last long when the cops spot Cody's mother and follow her back to the motel. One of the fed cops Bill Evans played by John Archer gets the drop on Cody as he's trying to start his car. The Evans tell's him to put his hands up. Cody does, but he  has a revolver stashed behind a sun visor. He shoots the cop and then him Ma, and Verna skedaddle. The other two fed cop tails are in pursuit when Cody turns into the San Val Drive in theater.

The feds go flying past. Cody's got an escape plan. He's not going to the gas chamber. Cody decides he's going to plead guilty to a hotel robbery in Illinois that happened the same day as The Tunnel Job. He can't be in two places at once. He flies to Chicago and gives himself up on the lesser charge..

 Hank Fallon  (Edmund O'Brien)

Here is where Edmund O'Brien shows up. He's Hank Fallon a G-Man, a cop who specializes in going undercover in prisons to chummy up to bad guys of interest, and try to get info. Evan's tags Fallon to be in the Illinois slammer with Cody. Evan's wants to find out where Cody stashed the loot.

Fallon was expecting time off to go fishing.

John Archer (Philip Evans) and Fallon

Evans: This job isn't going to be like any of the others Hank. You see umm, there's insanity in the Garrets. Some of it rubbed off on Cody, his father died in an institution.
Fallon: I've had a few strange cellmates in my time but this sounds like the jackpot.
Evans:: When he was a kid he used to fake headaches to get his mother's attention away from the rest of the family. It worked the fancied headaches became real over time and now they tear him to pieces. Any minute He's likely to come apart at the seams, and there goes our whole case. So you'll be working against time.
Fallon: Suits me, the quicker the better.
Evans: Except that Cody is not the kind of guy you can get close to in a hurry. The only person he's ever cared about of trusted is his mother. No one else have ever even made a dent not even his wife. His mother's been the prop that's held him up. He's got a big psychopathic devotion to her. All his life when ever he got in a jam he put out his hand and there was Ma Garret. With out her maybe Cody... just like his old man.
Fallon: You mean I'm supposed to take mama's place?
Evans: Never can tell he might need someone.
Fallon: I'll practice up with my lullabies.

The whole 2nd quarter of the film takes place in the slammer with Fallon aka Vic Pardo trying to get accepted by Cody. There are some nice sequences with "the Reader" a hard of hearing lip reader who acts as Cody's informer/eavesdropper filling him in on what's going down on the prison grapevine.

Jarrett with "The Reader" ( Pat Collins)

An assassination attempt by Roy Parker that is thwarted by Fallon does the trick of getting Cody to accept him. Cody gets a visit from Ma. She tells Cody about Ed and Verna doing the tubesteak boogie while he's doing time.

Ma tells Cody she'll take care of Big Ed. Cody tells her no, don't do anything, but she is determined.

One night they plan to put a getaway plan in motion. Fallon tips off his contact and a car is planted with an oscillator broadcasting a radio signal. By triangulation the feds will use it to track the getaway car. High tech circa 1949. The plan goes haywire when Cody finds out his mother is dead. He goes berserk in the chow hall.

Confined to a dispensary cell in a straight jacket he adlibs an escape with Fallon, Reader, Roy Parker and a few other cons. Once away from the prison, Cody takes care of Parker in a classic sequence. They head to California.

Ed and Verna are holed up in L.A. waiting now for Cody, Verna wants to split but Ed tells her that he'll tell Cody that she gave it Ma in the back.



Cody catches up to Verna, she tells him that Big Ed made her do it.

Verna betrays Ed. Cody shoots him down.

Cody rejoins his gang and they now plan a payroll robbery of a chemical plant using a tanker truck as a Trojan horse. It all goes Noirsville when a felon that Fallon put behind bars shows up as the legitimate teamster who is going to drive the tanker into the plant.

Noirsville  

Fred Clark as Daniel "The Trader" Winston.

Cagney is fantastic in an almost over the top portrayal of an aging criminal mastermind that is reminiscent of his more youthful turns in The Public Enemy and The Roaring Twenties. Here the mastermind is also a psycho, nut job, mamma's boy. Edmund O'Brien is coolly convincing as Cody's nemesis, Fallon, the undercover G-Man.

Director Walsh also gives the supporting players enough screen time to flesh out their characters with very vivid portrayals. Virginia Mayo is brassy, duplicitous, lazy, and voluptuous. Steve Cochran is an archetype gangster, loud pinstripe suit, dark shirt, light tie, fedora. he's big, and seems to loom over Cagney and the rest of the gang. John Archer plays a methodical, confidant G-Man, and Margaret Wycherly puts in a domineering performance as Ma Jarrett a cold and calculating harridan.

Though the film shows what I supposed was 1949 state of the art radio tracking equipment it looks though the prism of time a bit Rube Goldberg. The film does also show some archival footage of late 40's L.A.  Screencaps from a nicely restored TCM streamer. Cagney's return as a gangster after a decade layoff. 8/10