In later years, James Cagney regarded White Heat with a combination of pride and regret; while satisfied with his own performance, he tended to dismiss the picture as a cheap melodrama. Seen today, White Heat stands as one of the classic crime films of the 1940s, containing perhaps Cagneys best bad-guy portrayal. The star plays criminal mastermind Cody Jarrett, a mother-dominated psychotic who dreams of being on top of the world. Inadvertently leaving clues behind after a railroad heist, Jarrett becomes the target of the feds, who send an undercover agent (played by Edmond OBrien) to infiltrate the Jarrett gang. While Jarrett sits in prison on a deliberately trumped-up charge (he confesses to one crime to provide himself an alibi for the railroad robbery), he befriends OBrien, who poses as a hero-worshipping hood whos always wanted to work with Jarrett. Busting out of prison with OBrien, Jarrett regroups his gang to mastermind a Trojan horse armored-car robbery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide