 The psychopath criminal Arthur  Cody  Jarrett (James Cagney), who has Oedipus complex, and his gang rob a fortune from a train killing four people. In order to escape from the gas chamber, he confesses another crime in another state and is sentenced to two years in a prison. The secret agent Hank Fallon (Edmond O Brien) assumes the identity of Vic Pardo and shares the cell with Cody, trying to find where the money is. When Cody s mother is killed, he escapes from prison with three criminals and Vic to catch the killer. HE considers Vic his baby brother, and is betrayed in a heist of the safe of a chemical plant.