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White Heat
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James Cagney as Cody Jarrett, surrounded by smoke, fires a shotgun during the climactic shootout at a chemical factory in the film White Heat. James Cagney as Cody Jarrett grabs Edmond O'Brien as Hank Fallon by the collar in a tense scene from the film White Heat, with other men in prison uniforms in the background.
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James Cagney as Cody Jarrett, surrounded by smoke, fires a shotgun during the climactic shootout at a chemical factory in the film White Heat.
James Cagney in White Heat White Heat (1949), directed by Raoul Walsh, starred James Cagney in one of his most combustible roles, as gangster Cody Jarrett. The film features the iconic line, “Top of the world, Ma!”

White Heat

film by Walsh [1949]
Written by
Lee Pfeiffer
Author/co-author of numerous books about the cinema and is regarded as one of the foremost James Bond scholars. His book The Essential Bond: An Authorized Guide to the World of 007 (written with...
Lee Pfeiffer
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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History

White Heat, American crime film released in 1949 that is considered the definitive James Cagney vehicle and perhaps the best of the Warner Brothers crime dramas. Cody Jarrett (played by Cagney) is a cold-blooded killer who has an uncomfortable oedipal relationship with his domineering mother (Margaret Wycherly). When Jarrett learns of her murder while he is in prison, he virtually wrecks the mess hall in a fit of uncontrolled rage. Soon after, he and several...

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