A tough street kid takes the rap for a burglary committed by the son of his foster family and is sent to a boys reformatory, where the inmates are under the thumb of corrupt guards and a brutal prison doctor.
Johnny Quinlan is so desperate for a job that he takes a gig as a "bag man" for the mob. Meanwhile, his beleaguered wife has to deal with her bizarre, unemployed, wise-cracking brother and various neighbors while keeping house in their Brooklyn tenement.
Mickey Lofton, young half-brother of famed war-aviator Jerry, fails in his attempt to enter the Canadian Air Corps, because of his fear of thunderstorms developed by an incident in his boyhood days. Jerry, now a Captain in the U.S. Department of Justice, is given an assignment to capture some border oil smugglers. Through his friendship with Raoul McGuire, one of the suspects, Jerry is accepted as a member of the gang. Mickey is in love with Raoul's sister, Molly. Gang leader Moran shoots and wounds Raoul, and is himself shot down by Jerry. Mickey flies Molly and her wounded brother to a hospital. Jerry takes off in another plane to guard Mickey's craft from a pursuing airplane, and crashes his plane into the gangster's plane but parachutes to safety.
Bob Terry is in love with Lois Borden the daughter of his employer, John Borden. When some bonds are missing from the office, Bob is accused and because of Borden's strong sense of obligation to his stockholders, Bob is railroaded to prison. A few years later, the real thief is apprehended and Bob is released. He now begins his plan for revenge against Borden with the aid of his prison cell mate Todd and a gangster, John Carmody. Soon, some bonds are missing again and Borden knows Bob is involved but because Bob has suffered at his hands before, Borden assumes the responsibility and is about to be sentenced to prison. Todd is shot while trying to steal the bonds back from Carmody, but gets the bonds back to Bob and, before he dies, begs Bob to return them to the owner.
Homeboy Cameron tries to juggle his time between his girlfriend Sandy, the record label, and hanging out with his boyz. But his relationship with Sandy eventually sours when Cameron devotes more time to his friends. Tired of his lies and excuses, Sandy ends the relationship. Dealing with depression from the breakup.
In 1933, a mischievous ten year old, Archie, is left in the care of his unattentive father, Charlie, a reluctant gangster indebted to mob boss Benny “The Bomb” Palladino. Benny gives Charlie a last chance to clear his ‘debt’ by collecting money from a rival, but when Archie follows his father into a rival gangster’s speakeasy, a series of bizarre events take place culminating in them fleeing without the money.
When two brothers Angelo and the younger Paulie, get into a fight,it's broken up by the local Mafia don, the much feared and respected Santo. Fed up with their dead-end-jobs, Angelo, Paulie and two freinds abandon the 9-5 grind
Jim 'Socker' Conway, former boxer and FBI hero, is maneuvered for political reasons into a do-nothing job in the district attorney's office. Meanwhile, he meets wild debutante Letty Lane, girlfriend of mob mouthpiece Steve Lawrence; and Letty's much nicer sister Susan. Now the slot machine gang brutally beats Jim's friends Franz and Otto. And Jim finds a way to use his nominal position to go into the racket- busting business. But his success puts Letty in deadly peril...
When a young man is befriended by a gambling ship operator and made a partner in the business, he becomes involved in a police manhunt after he covers up a murder committed by his new partner.