Among the countless gangster films produced by Hollywood, few are as haunting, complex, or ingeniously crafted as White Heat (1948). Students of film history and screen writing will appreciate this treatment—an engaging study of teh various artistic elements that turned what might have been just another gangster film into an innovative classic of the genre and a model of cooperative filmmaking at its best.
    Crucial to White Heat's success, McGilligan stresses, was the rare manner in which every aspect of production coalesced: studio, script, cast, crew, and director.

    Patrick McGilligan is a professional writer. His articles have appeared in several film anthologies and he is the author of three film related books, as well as editor of Yankee Doodle Dandy, also published by the University of Wisconsin Press.
    Tino Balio, Professor in the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, is the author of United Artists: The Company Built by the Stars, United Artists: The Company That Changed the Film Industry, and the editor of The American Film Industry as well as the 22 volume Wisconsin/Warner Bros. Screenplay series, all published by the University of Wisconsin Press. He directed the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theatre Research from 1966 to 1882.

• Contents 
• Foreword
• Balio, Tino
• Introduction: “Made It, Ma! Top of the World!”
• McGilligan, Patrick
• Illustrations
• White Heat
• Notes to the Screenplay
• Production Credits
• Cast
• Inventory