TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

JohnHowardReid Producer: Louis F. Edelman. Copyright 28 November 1949 by Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Strand: 2 September 1949. U.S. release: 3 September 1949. U.K. release: 9 January 1950. Australian release: 18 May 1951 (sic). 10,171 feet. 113 minuteNOTES: Although her original screen story was so refashioned and altered by Goff and Roberts, it had very little connection with what eventually transpired on the screen, Virginia Kellogg was nominated for an Academy Award, losing to Douglas Morrow's The Stratton Story.White Heat has now become a cult classic, but it was not rated over-highly by contemporary critics nor did it achieve any status at the box-office.The opening scenes were filmed in the Santa Susana Mountains near Chatsworth, California, and the climax in the industrial district south of Los Angeles, near Torrance and the Signal Hill oil wells.COMMENT: Directed at a crackerjack pace, this gangster thriller has enormous drive and vitality. No expense has been spared and stunning use is made of actual locations. Cagney gives one of his most engrossing portrayals as the evilly neurotic thug and Margaret Wycherly is stand-out as his ruthless mother. The script piles incident upon incident culminating in one of the most startlingly explosive, symbolic climaxes ever put on celluloid.The Director: Although hailed as an auteur hero late in his career - when he had distinctly fallen from his peak - Raoul Walsh was a great action director in his prime with such vintage Bogart classics to his credit as The Roaring Twenties, They Drive by Night, High Sierra and allegedly The Enforcer.

Ed-Shullivan I think James Cagney's body of work is something to be very proud of and his loyal fans like myself are glad he made so many great films. Having said that I have watched this film three (3) times now and I just never got that good feeling that sometimes comes over me after watching a great crime film classic like (1972) The Godfather, (2015) Black Mass, (2012) The Iceman, and/or (1993) A Bronx Tale. I realize that I may be in the minority with my opinion but the film left me looking for quite a bit more in Cagney's mob boss character Cody Jarrett. The fixation with his "ma" was creative but for example, the scene in which Cody is in prison and whispers at the prison meal table to the guy sitting next to him who just got outside news that Cody's "ma" is dead was just so over the top that I found it to be too comical. I just could not see a mob boss after finding out his adorable "ma" is dead would scream out loud and literally crawl across the prison dinner table without anyone trying to stop him for acting like a big baby.I loved Virginia Mayo's portrayal as the selfish and beautiful blonde gun moll Virginia, wife of Cody Jarrett whose facial expressions when she observes the interactions between Cody and his mom provide us with her disdain for their relationship. No doubt, the film ending is a classic and extremely well done. I just was not so impressed with the other 110 minutes of the film.

Antonius Block This gangster film has it all – well-planned heists, cold-blooded murders, fast cars, double-crosses, snappy dialog, sophisticated criminals, and just as sophisticated cops. It's very smart, and Director Raoul Walsh keeps us on our toes without wasting a single moment in telling this story. Most of all, it has James Cagney, who is just fantastic. The film is both dark both in how it's shot, a classic film noir, and in its tone, as Cagney's character is sociopathic, wracked by migraines, and possibly insane. He is supported by a great cast, including Margaret Wycherly in the memorable role as his mother, whose toughness and depravity is gradually revealed. Edmond O'Brien is also strong in the role of the undercover G-man.One theme in the film is how easily (and violently) criminals will betray one another. Another is how advanced forensic and crime-fighting technology was in 1949, which is both impressive and may make you smile. The two of those put together serve as a strong anti-crime message, likely influenced by the production code, and yet, the film is gritty and pushes boundaries, so that it doesn't feel like a morality tale. Character motivations feel authentic. There are several iconic moments, the ending of course, but also Cagney returning and surprising his wife (Virginia Mayo) in the garage, and later staring at a rival (Steve Cochran) through the crack of a door. He is absolutely chilling when angry, and one can't help but be impressed by the great range he showed over his career. If you're in the mood for action and a dark crime film, 'White Heat' is very satisfying.

NewtonFigg D'Autremonts' bungled train robbery in 1923 left 4 dead By Paul Fattig Copyright © interRogue & The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA oct11,1998 ASHLAND -- An old wreath over the north portal of Tunnel No. 13 at the Siskiyou Summit is the only visible reminder of the deadly crime. Three railroad employees and a mail clerk were killed when the Southern Pacific's "Gold Special" was held up by the D'Autremont brothers 75 years ago today. One of those who died shortly after noon on Oct. 11, 1923, was Ashland resident Elvyn Dougherty, the mail clerk. "It was a terrible thing," said Eagle Point resident Nancy Rinabarger, 70, whose mother, Blanche Dougherty, was left a widow with a young son. "He wasn't supposed to work that day. He was subbing for someone else. "I wasn't born then, but I know she had a lot of hardships," she said of her mother, who later remarried. "Since the case wasn't solved right away, they (detectives) even followed her for some time. That was hard on her." Her half-brother, Raymond Dougherty of Redding, the boy left fatherless by the dynamite blast, will be 80 next month. But he declined to comment about the trauma caused by the 1923 incident, saying it was "personal." After all these years, what has become popularly known as the West's "Last Great Train Robbery" is still remembered with pain by those whose families lost loved ones. "Four lives were lost and three lives were changed so they that were never the same," said Salem resident Mike Yoakum, a former Rogue Valley resident. "It was a compound tragedy." The D'Autremonts included twins Ray and Roy, both 23 at the time of the crime, and their teenage brother, Hugh. Before the crime, Ray served time in a Washington state prison for labor union activity. During that time, he came up with a plan to make his family rich. "Hatred ate away at my compassion as I saw how the people in power cheated and stole from the masses," he told author Larry Sturholm for the book, "All for Nothing." "Thousands of women and children were starving and dying, thousands more, honest working men, were receiving less than half of what they should," he added. But Ray's action indicated he wasn't interested in honest work. After his release from prison, he and his twin brother traveled to Chicago where they hoped to join big-time gangsters during the Roaring '20s. Unsuccessful, they returned to Southern Oregon where they began studying shipments on Southern Pacific trains. After all, the train through the Rogue Valley still carried the nickname of the "Gold Special" because it once hauled large quantities of gold from the mines. They had heard rumors that it would be hauling up to a half million dollars in gold as well as a shipment of cash on Oct. 11. The twins, who recruited their younger brother, picked the 3,107-foot-long Tunnel No. 13 because it would be easy to hop aboard the train as it labored slowly to reach the crest of the summit. Railway regulations required the engineer to test the brakes at the top of the pass by bringing the southbound train to a near stop just north of the tunnel. The brothers studied the site, and established a hideout a couple of miles from the tunnel. They also stole explosives from a construction site in northern Oregon. On the day of the crime, Roy and Hugh jumped on the train. Ray waited at the other end of the tunnel with the dynamite. After scrambling up on the baggage car, the two brothers climbed over the tender and jumped down into the engine cab. Hugh ordered engineer Sidney Bates to stop the train near the south end of the tunnel. The twins packed the dynamite against one end of the mail car containing the mail clerk. The blast ripped open the entire end of the car, killing the clerk and setting fire to the railroad car. The brothers couldn't see into the car because of the smoke and dust. And they couldn't get the train moved out of the tunnel because of the mangled car. The second man to die was brakeman Coyle Johnson, who had walked through the thick smoke in the tunnel, startling the brothers. Ray, carrying a shotgun, and Hugh, armed with a .45 semiautomatic, shot Johnson. Perhaps angry over not finding any money or gold, perhaps afraid of leaving witnesses, the brothers then shot to death railroad fireman Marvin Seng and engineer Bates. They fled into the woods, prompting a massive manhunt that included the federal government, Oregon National Guard troops, local posses and angry railroad workers. But the brothers laid low, then slipped through the dragnet. It wouldn't be until 1927 that Hugh was caught while serving in the Far East in the military. An Army buddy recognized his face on a wanted poster and turned him in for the reward. The twins were arrested a short time later in Ohio.