Genç ve sorunlu bir karakter olan Danny Fisher, liseyi terk eder ve bir gece kulübünde bulaşıkçı olarak çalışmaya başlar. Ancak, bir gece sahnede şansını deneyince yeteneği fark edilir. Mafya lideri Maxie Fields, onu kendi kulübü "The Blue Shade"'de çalışması için işe almak ister. Danny teklifi reddetse de, Fields'in "hayır" cevabını kabul etmeye niyeti yoktur. Danny, müzik kariyerinin peşinden gitmek ile tehlikeli suç dünyasına bulaşmak arasında bir seçim yapmak zorunda kalır.
Ruth Ellis lives with her ten-year old son Andy next to a night club. One night she meets David Blakely, and they start a love affair. However, for David with his upper-class background, it is impossible to uphold the relationship. He breaks up with her, something which makes Ellis, obsessed by him, very upset.
Bootleggers on the lam Frankie and Noll split up to evade capture by the police. Frankie is caught and jailed, but Noll manages to escape and open a posh New York City nightclub. 14 years later, Frankie is released from the clink and visits Noll with the intention of collecting his half of the nightclub's profits. But Noll, who has no intention of being so equitable, uses his ex-girlfriend Kay to divert Frankie from his intended goal.
Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check Niles' allegation; a friend of the Rome family, he walks a tightrope between sentiment and cynicism. When Martin fears Candella will implicate his girlfriend Teena, he'll do anything to protect her. How many others will he drag down to disaster with him?