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Tag Archives: White Heat
“A good director must be able to inspire whoever he was coaching so that the actor would live the scene. Make-believe must become reality.” — Raoul Walsh
It’s his birthday today. Raoul Wash directed a number of great films (in a career as vast as his, the names stick out), but one also thinks of the great PERFORMANCES in these great films, often from actors who were … Continue reading
Posted in Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Ida Lupino, James Cagney, Raoul Walsh, Roaring Twenties, White Heat
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My 2 All-Time Favorite Cagney Moments:
— his death scene in The Roaring Twenties – he makes it into a tragic ballet – all in one long take. The way that guy moved! — the scene where he freaks out in prison about his mother dying … Continue reading
Snapshots with Michael
— Lights out our first night. He lay on the blow-up mattress on the floor right below my bed. I lay in bed. Lights out. I lay there in silence, my eyes wide open, and I was just overly conscious … Continue reading
Speaking of William Holden’s Death Scene
(were we? Yes. We were.) … Here’s a post of 5 death scenes (on my new addiction – Matt Zoller Seitz’s blog) I found myself nodding in agreement at the inclusion of Sean Connery’s death in The Untouchables. I haven’t … Continue reading
James Cagney Appreciation Day
I have to agree with Bogdonavich below – that the prison mess hall scene in White Heat when Cagney freaks out – is one of those moments in movie history that you never forget – a high water mark for … Continue reading
James Cagney Appreciation Day
From Who the Hell’s in It: Conversations with Hollywood’s Legendary Actors: He was different from most of the great stars of the golden age in that he often played villains — even late in his career — comically in Mister … Continue reading
James Cagney Appreciation Day
From Who the Hell’s in It: Conversations with Hollywood’s Legendary Actors: One critic wrote of White Heat that only a hard-boiled director like Raoul Walsh could get away with having Cagney — during a terrible migraine attack — sit on … Continue reading
Posted in Actors
Tagged James Cagney, Peter Bogdanovich, Public Enemy, Raoul Walsh, White Heat, William Wellman
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James Cagney Appreciation Day
From Peter Bogdanovich’s marvelous book, Who the Hell’s in It: Conversations with Hollywood’s Legendary Actors: The year before I had run for Orson Welles a 16mm print of Raoul Walsh’s devastating gangster film starring Cagney, White Heat (1949); Welles had … Continue reading
Posted in Actors
Tagged James Cagney, Orson Welles, Peter Bogdanovich, Raoul Walsh, White Heat
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The Entrance of the Star
White Heat starts with no fanfare. A car shrieks along a curvy road. And then suddenly there’s James Cagney – big close-up. I like a movie that tosses us into the action, I like a movie that is centered on … Continue reading