Raoul Walsh

[JackFavell]

Now Touch of Evil really invites thoughts about good and evil, loyalty and betrayal. I think Menzies feels guilt. But I also think Menzies is a better man than Fallon. Menzies comes to his decision (to betray Quinlan) in an honest way. It kills him to act on it. But he does it because Quinlan has stepped over the line. (I won't say he's wrong, because as we know, Hank is never wrong. ) Menzies' eyes are opened.

In comparison, Fallon is simply doing a job he buys into from the start. There is no eye opening moment for him, at least I can't think of one. He's got no soul, that Fallon. I think that,

MAJOR TOUCH OF EVIL SPOILERS***************************************************

had Menzies lived, he would have been a wounded man. I don't know whether that would have made him harder, or crumbled him into bits.

[CineMaven]

"WHITE HEAT" ( 1949 )



I'd love to see this on a double bill with "Brute Force" another strong tough muscle movie. Adult, men, pulls no punches...futility 'till the end. I watched it recently and was reminded of how good a movie this is, and how much I like it. What can I add to what’s already been wonderfully stated? I can only be a big ol’ copycat and echo the praises of my fellow travelers in the posts before me. What a good movie. For me “WHITE HEAT” carries the banner of a Shakespearean epic of a flawed, demented king with an Achilles Heel:

( * ) blinding hellacious headaches
( * ) an Oedipus complex

From the Queen Mother who spits nails and supports her boy in the family business ( GANGSTER ) to a dreamy blonde who he can trust about as far as he can throw her ( though he does carry her upstairs ) to some dissension in the ranks and topping it off...a trusted right hand man who throws Cody Jarrett under the bus, every character down to the bone is cast perfectly. ( I like John Archer too. ) Even a buzzard loves her baby buzzard, and Ma Jarrett ( Margaret Witcherly ) is no different. I love her. I love how she coaxes Verna when they get questioned by the police, and how she calms down Cody after one of his headaches. I love how she shakes the police when they tail her. I love Verna ( Virginia Mayo in her best role ) always looking out for herself, her barely concealed contempt for her mother-in-law, her making time with her husband’s good-looking henchman ( Steve Cochran. ) I loved her fear when Cody busts out of prison and comes back home to settle some scores. She doesn’t want him to find out she shot her mother-in-law...in the back, a piece of info Cochran holds over her. Egads, a den of wolves.

I really love Edmond O’Brien in this movie, wheedling his way into Cody’s good graces like Iago. This is one of my favorite roles of the actor ( including “The Barefoot Contessa” “Seven Days In May” “D.O.A.” And “The Killers.” ) I'm with you guys on whether O'Brien's "Fallon" is a good guy or a traitor. It must be the strength of Cagney’s persona that really makes me feel the depth of Fallon’s betrayal. Wait...how am I feeling sorry for Cody? He just left one of his men to die, and plugged another guy in the trunk of the car. Hey I don’t question my crazy mixed up emotions...I just go with it. JaxXxon, I’d like to think in some quiet moment, Fallon feels bad about what he did to Cody. ( I admit, I’m torn and twisted. ) Things are not black 'n white. They're fifty shades of crap; not a redeeming quality among 'em. But we get a window into reality when at the big shoot out at the end, Fallon shoots up at Cody saying “What’s holding him up!”

Cagney’s simply a force of nature as the stone-cold killer ( cross him at your own peril. ) His abject grief at the news of the death of his Rock of Gibraltar puts a lump in my throat. He hold nothing back and it’s uncomfortable. ( It makes me think of Jack Lemmon’s looking for alcohol in the greenhouse in “The Days of Wine and Roses.” ) He's only got two relationships in the movie where his trust is involved, his mother and Fallon. Verna? It's a rather asexual relationship except on occasion. She's just there as a convenience. You don't think Cody loves and trusts her, d'ya? Cagney is great all the way through and through. He does what any legend would do when given the role of his career; he pours his blood, sweat and tears into every frame of his greatest triumph. Oh I could go on and on about him, but ( his ) actions speak louder than my ( meager ) words. See the movie. He gives a towering performance and ends in the most perfect movie ending I've seen. I wish James Cagney would have won the Academy Award for going to Kingdom Come in smithereens, rather than kicking up his yankee doodle heels.



Great comparison you guys to "Touch Of Evil." Disloyalty. How sharper than a serpent's tooth...

[feaito]

Superb essay on WH Tess. I cannot add nothing more to your insightful analysis.

Wen, Red and Owen, very good comparisons with Stalag 17 and Touch of Evil.

Brute Force? Haven't seen it and neither Criss Cross...Gotta catch up.

[CineMaven]

Brute Force? Haven't seen it and neither Criss Cross...Gotta catch up.

I'm only gilding the lily that you guys already spoke about. Catching up? Yes. Yes you have to, my friend:

[JackFavell]

What he said, T! Superb writeup on White Heat.

[RedRiver]

I’d like to think in some quiet moment, Fallon feels bad about what he did to Cody.

I think he must. I, myself, don't have disdain for the man, or his actions. But I imagine Mr. F had some sleepless nights! Wendy, you must take some personal revenge when you watch DOA. "Another drink, FALLON?"

[JackFavell]

Hahahaha! That's hilarious, red! And yes I do.

[mongoII]

Fernando, It surprises me that you saw "White Heat" for the very first time recently. It had to be a jumbo surprise for you as well as a treat. A top notch gangster film with a superb cast indeed.

[Vienna]

Cinemaven, excellent review of White Heat. And ,yes, Cagney deserved the Oscar. And Margaret Wycherley should have got Best Supporting.

[JackFavell]

So I guess it's becoming clearer to me from the way you phrased things, T, that what we have in White Heat is more of a Greek Tragedy. It's fated that Cody will go down, but the how and why of it is what we want to see. The younger man/older man relationship is very familiar in Greek drama... we know plays that included a king and a son, or a young man bound to replace the king at some point. I see a direct correlation in White Heat. Fallon is to be Cody's successor.There is recognition between the two men. A respect. But Hank is also to be the death of Cody... as is the will of the gods.

Hubris plays a great part in these stories, the foolhardiness and self-deception that comes with power - Icarus trying to touch the sun. I think we can definitely see where that glowing fireball comes into play in White Heat. A powerful man becomes too emboldened or blinded by power and commits a horrible crime. The man doesn't realize how foolish and arrogant he's become and must be taken down. As he realizes his error, his world crumbles around him. Does Cody realize his error? I think he realizes that he shouldn't have let Fallon in, but not the enormity of his own villainousness. In Walsh's world, one needn't even be arrogant to get taken down - look at Roy Earle - the fame alone will do you in, or the power will drive you mad. So Walsh piecemeal's the Greek Tragedy, stealing a little here and a little there to breathe humanity into his characters and to make a point about the world we live in. In traditional Greek Tragedy, the powerful man becomes corrupted - I'm talking directly to you Hank Quinlan! no, I haven't forgotten about Touch of Evil, which is perhaps even more purposely and thoughtfully Greek Tragedy than White Heat. But in Walsh's world, the man is strangely untouched and the world around him is corrupted. This is what makes Walsh infinitely touching to me - his men are lost, looking for innocence in a world of iniquity.

I think most gangster pictures follow the 'rise and fall' story arc. Definitely Walsh's films, even his non-gangster movies, have a tendency toward this kind of melancholy view of the far side of power and age... the downward slope. The Roaring Twenties, High Sierra, White Heat, Colorado Territory, even The Strawberry Blonde deal with men who've had their day, and are trying to achieve something beyond reach. Inevitably, they fail.

In Greek Tragedy, man's wiser instincts are in direct conflict with his passions. We can see Cody as the essence of Dionysian instinct (passion), while Fallon is the epitome of Apollonian instinct (wisdom). Or, we can delve a little deeper, and see that Cody is in conflict with himself - those passions are battling to get out - Ma is the cold, passionless, and yes, wise voice in Cody's head, but he can't maintain that wisdom. The passion that seethes from him struggles to find freedom. This is the birth of Tragedy, right here...not in Cody vs. Fallon, but in Cody vs. Ma, which equals Cody vs. himself. His attempt to live up to Ma's ideals will end with him going up in that fireball.

[feaito]

Fernando, It surprises me that you saw "White Heat" for the very first time recently. It had to be a jumbo surprise for you as well as a treat. A top notch gangster film with a superb cast indeed.

Indeed Joe. There are so many landmark films I haven't seen already; like "Fanny and Alexander", "The Seventh Seal", "Criss Cross", "Brute Force", "The Night of the Hunter", to name a few.

[feaito]

Wendy, I loved your reply to Tess. You dug so very deep....

[JackFavell]

This is why I like the conversation here, it makes me actually think every now and then.

I have those gaps in my film education too, Fer, but that just gives us something to look forward to!

[mongoII]

Cinemaven, excellent review of White Heat. And ,yes, Cagney deserved the Oscar. And Margaret Wycherley should have got Best Supporting.

Vienna, Virginia Mayo expressed the same sentiments on TCM about Cagney getting an Oscar for "White Heat" but went on to say that the Academy usually didn't honor gangster films. Too bad.

[CineMaven]

Thank you Vienna. Love your Marie Windsor. And I think it might be safe to say that Cagney WUZ robbed!