White Heat

1949: Raoul Walsh, director; starring James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O’Brien. A classic noir prison-gangster movie, one of Cagney’s best, it leans heavily on the Bonnie-and-Clyde side of gangster life (the gang robs a mail train) rather than the rackets. The G-men are going after the bad guys, which reflected FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s early skepticism about the Mafia and his obsession with armed robbery. Fun fact: Cagney’s immortal line “Made it, Ma! Top of the world!” is No. 18 on the American Film Institute’s list of greatest movie quotes.