White Heat (1949)

James Cagney: Cody Jarrett

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Cody Jarrett : Made it, Ma! Top of the world!

• Verna Jarrett : I'd look good in a mink coat, honey.

  Cody Jarrett : You'd look good in a shower curtain.

• Roy Parker : You wouldn't kill me in cold blood, would ya?

  Cody Jarrett : No, I'll let ya warm up a little.

• Cody Jarrett : [while eating a chicken leg, Jarrett speaks to Parker in the trunk of the sedan]  How ya doin', Parker?

  Roy Parker : It's stuffy in here, I need some air.

  Cody Jarrett : Oh, stuffy, huh? I'll give ya a little air.

  [pulls a gun from his pants and shoots four times into the trunk] 

• Cody Jarrett : A copper, a copper, how do you like that boys? A copper and his name is Fallon. And we went for it, I went for it. Treated him like a kid brother. And I was gonna split fifty-fifty with a copper!

• [the sound of shooting is heard] 

  Zuckie Hommell : Sounds bad, Cody.

  Cody Jarrett : Why don't you give 'em my address too...

• Cody Jarrett : I told you to keep away from that radio. If that battery is dead it'll have company.

• [Pardo has just saved Cody's life] 

  Vic Pardo : I saw that just in time.

  Cody Jarrett : Whaddya want - a medal?

• Cody Jarrett : My old lady never had anything. Always on the run. Always on the move. Some life. First it was my old man - died kickin' and screamin' in a nuthouse. Then, my brother. And after that, it was takin' care of me. Always tryin' to put me on top. "Top of the world," she used to say. And then, times when I'd be losin' my grip, there she'd be, right behind me. Push me back up again. And now...

• Engineer : What's this, a hold-up?

  Cody Jarrett : Naw, naw, you're seven minutes late. We're just changin' engineers.

• Cody Jarrett : You know something, Verna, if I turn my back long enough for Big Ed to put a hole in it, there'd be a hole in it.

• Cody Jarrett : You know somethin' Verna? If I turn my back long enough for Big Ed to put a whole in it, there'd be a hole in it. Big Ed. Great Big Ed. You know why they call him that? Because his ideas are big. Someday he's gonna get a really big one - about me. And it'll be his last.

• Verna Jarrett : What about me? What do I do for the next two years?

  Ma Jarrett : Same as you did before he married you.

  Cody Jarrett : You better not, baby. I'll be back.

  Verna Jarrett : I'll be waitin' for you honey. You can trust me.

• Ma Jarrett : No. No, not yet, son. Don't let 'em see you like that. Might give some of them ideas.

  Cody Jarrett : Always thinkin' about your Cody, aren't you?

  Ma Jarrett : That's right.

  [Pours and hands Cody a drink] 

  Ma Jarrett : Top of the world, son.

  Cody Jarrett : I don't know what I'd do without you, Ma.

• Cody Jarrett : I'll take care of that when I get out.

  Ma Jarrett : That's what I told myself. And I'll help you Cody, like always. You'll be out soon! Back on top of the world.

  Cody Jarrett : With your arm, Ma, nothing can stop me.

  Ma Jarrett : That's right, son.

• Cody Jarrett : We're back in business, boys. We're back in business. And not Big Ed's way either. And not for fifty grand. But, first, a question: Supposin' - Supposin' you wanna push in a place like Fort Knox and grab yourself a couple a tons of gold, what's the toughest thing about a job like that?

  Jarrett Gang Member : Gettin' inside the joint.

  Cody Jarrett : A silver dollar for the gentleman in the balcony. Right on the button. Gettin' in. Which brings me to a story Ma used to tell me when I was a kid. A story about a horse. Way back, there was a whole army tryin' to knock over a place called Troy and gettin' nowhere fast. Couldn't even put a dent in the wall. And one mornin', one morning the the people of Troy wake, look over the walls, and the attackin' army's disappeared. Men. Boats. The works. Takin' a powder. But, they left one thing after them: a great, big wooden horse. And accordin' to Ma...

• Cody Jarrett : You like the truck idea, huh?

  Trader Winston : Admirable. We might all profit by a closer study of classical literature.

• Cody Jarrett : We got enough food for a week, what'd she have to go to the market for?

  Verna Jarrett : You like strawberries, don't you? She just *had* to get some for her boy.

  [Cody kicks over the chair she is standing on, while gazing in a mirror wearing a negligee and mink coat] 

• Cody Jarrett : To me, you're a face and a number, and let's keep it that way.

• Cody Jarrett : You're just lonesome. Lonesome, like me.

  Hank Fallon alias Vic Pardo : You? What about...

  Cody Jarrett : You mean Verna?

  [shakes his head no] 

  Cody Jarrett : All I ever had was Ma.

• Cody Jarrett : Get in the wooden horse, boys.

• Philip Evans : You might as well come down, Jarrett. There's no one left but you.

  Cody Jarrett : [laughs]  Come and get me!

• Cody Jarrett : [Fallon is hiding the tracking device under the phony fuel truck]  What are you doin'? We're on our way.

  Hank Fallon : You gotta have a chain bouncin' the ground - get rid of electricity.

  Cody Jarrett : That's only when you got gasoline or chemicals sloppin' around inside.

  Hank Fallon : You wanna have some traffic cop think you got a load of somethin' else?

  Cody Jarrett : That's usin' your head, kid. All right, snap it up.

  [Jarrett walks off] 

• Ma Jarrett : Well, if it ain't the Sleeping Beauty.

  Verna Jarrett : What does a girl do around this bear trap?

  Ma Jarrett : There's plenty you can do without wearing out the mattress.

  Verna Jarrett : It's the only place that I don't freeze. I've been cold for a week, Cody. Not even a fire. Who's gonna see a little bit of smoke a hundred miles from nowhere.

  Cody Jarrett : Help Ma with the grub.

• Cody Jarrett : They've got Zuckie in a morgue upstate! The T have tied him with us and the tunnel job.

  Verna Jarrett : What?

  Cody Jarrett : Yeah. All is hot as pistols!

• Cody Jarrett : Maybe a kick in the skull would do him some good.

  Hank Fallon alias Vic Pardo : They got rules in this chicken coop, Cody. You start anything, you wind up in a hole.

  Cody Jarrett : Did I ask you for any advise? Look Pardo, I've been watchin' you. And up to now you haven't done anything I can put my finger on. And maybe that's what bothers me. But, I don't know you. What I don't know, I don't trust. To me you're just a face and a number and let's keep it that way for now. When I want you're help, I'll ask for it.

• Cody Jarrett : What's the matter, baby? I'm not gonna hurt ya.

  [kisses Verna] 

  Cody Jarrett : Now, go and read your comic books. Good girl.

• Cody Jarrett : Maybe I am nuts. Let's go in and have drink.

• Verna Jarrett : You mean it, honey? We could have fun! Live big! Money's just paper if you don't spend it.

  Cody Jarrett : That's an idea.

  Verna Jarrett : It's a good idea! Europe, maybe. Paris! Rubbin' shoulders with the best of 'em. "How'd you do, Countess." Sable coats. Jewels just dripping from my fingers. Oh, I'd knock their eyes out, Cody. You'd be real proud of me.

  Cody Jarrett : Don't go flippin' your lid.

• Cody Jarrett : [toast]  Here's to us. Top of the world.

• Cody Jarrett : Well, I think we better hit the hay, Duchess. Come on.

• Cody Jarrett : "Come out with your hands up," the man says. How do you like that Ma? Here's my answer. You dirty -

  [fires his shotgun] 

  Cody Jarrett : - That was Cody Jarrett talkin'!