711 OCEAN DRIVE (1950)

Made the same year as D.O.A., Edmond O'Brien stars as a telephone lineman who's into the horses.  Constantly in the hole to his bookie, the bookie recruits him into setting up a wire service for the local betting operation.  Soon the money starts pouring in and thanks to some calculated moves and a little bit of luck O'Brien finds himself as the head of the organization.  Things go good for awhile, but then O'Brien starts getting greedy and taking a bigger cut for himself.  Things really go south when the national mafia decides O'Brien's little empire needs to be absorbed into theirs.  Murder and death follow.

711 OCEAN DRIVE might have a lame title, but with such a strong cast and interesting story it really should be more well known than it is (it currently has less than 500 votes on IMDb).  Edmond O'Brien is especially good, but then again you could pretty much say that about every film he's ever done.  Lots of great looking cars, old-timey electronics, murder, a reference (I think) to public hair ("It'll work -- now I got him by the short hairs!"), nice photography, quick pace and lots of location shots including a exciting showdown at the Hoover Dam.  Any fans of classic crime thrillers should check it out.

Recommended.

WHITE HEAT (1949)

Now this is more like it!  I double-featured THE PUBLIC ENEMY with WHITE HEAT and while I found TPE to be dated and not as hard hitting as I had hope, WHITE HEAT was awesome!

After an exciting train robbery, gangster James Cagney is on the run with his gang which includes a few tough guys, his two-timing wife and even his overbearing mother!  Stuff happens and Cagney ends up in prison doing a bullshit two-year stint to cover up for his real crime.  The coppers are onto his game and put undercover agent Edmond O'Brien inside the prison to try and get the straight dope on Cagney.

There's much more to it than just that, of course, but you should just watch it for yourself.  Severe mother complex, murder left and right, prison fights, shoot outs, headaches, cheating wife, boiling hot steam to the face, robbery, classic vehicles, secret messages, car chases and one of the greatest freakout scenes in the history of classic Hollywood.

Even being as old as it is WHITE HEAT still packs quite a wallop.  Great movie.  Highly recommended.