“White Heat” is a Crime Drama, Screenplay by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts from a Story by Virginia Kellogg and Directed by Raoul Walsh.
The central character of the story is Cody Jarrett (James Cagney) who is a sadistic psychopathic criminal and leader of a ruthless gang of thieves.
Cody is a volatile, violent, and eccentric
leader, fiercely devoted to his ‘Ma’ (Margaret Wycherly) and afflicted with
terrible headaches.
While he is running the gang from in jail
Cody's top henchman Big Ed Somers (Steve Cochran) wants to lead the gang and,
in cahoots with Cody’s two-faced wife Verna (Virginia Mayo), plots with inmates
for Cody to have an accident, but Cody is saved by an undercover cop, Hank
Fallon aka Vic Pardo (Edmond O'Brien) who thereby befriends him and infiltrates
the gang.
After making a daring break from prison he
leads his old gang back on the outside and the stage is set for Cody's ultimate
betrayal and downfall, during a big payroll heist at a chemical plant.
The final scene, with the line “Top of the
World, Ma!” is one of the most famous in all of film history.
