A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and then leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. After the heist, events take a crazy turn.
A superbly grandiose performance by James Cagney as a criminal made insane by his inner conflicts, but ultimately the film is too underdeveloped elsewhere (e.g. the police) to warrant a higher score from me. A number of critics suggest that this served as an influence for Heat (1995), although I think that's a misreading of this film: Cagney is more like the member of the vicious criminal gang who betrays them in Michael Mann's film.
