(There are Spoilers) Being sprung from the big house ex-cons and good friends Cliff Taylor and Chuck Martin, George Raft & Humphrey Bogart, go their separate ways. Cliff determined to go straight and become a law abiding citizen with Chuck going back to his gang of hoods that the left for a five year forced vacation in the clink.
Cliff coming back home get's his first taste of reality, as being a man with a criminal record, with the girl that he left behind Sue, Margot Stevenson, dropping him like a hot potato. Sue seeing that there's no future for her in hitching up with the unwanted, by society, and unemployable ex-convict. Cliff is also a bit disturbed with his hot-headed younger brother Tim, William Holden, wanting to follow in his footsteps as a hoodlum. Feeling that it's the only way for him to get out of the hopeless poverty that he finds himself in working on and off as a grease monkey whenever he can find work at the local garages.
We see the hardships that Cliff has to contend with as an ex-con no matter what job he get's through the help of his kindly and caring parole officer Masters,Henry O'Neill. From a grease monkey, like his brother Tim, to a loader of heavy equipment at a plant where he's forced to lay out a fellow worker who was breaking his chops.
Finally getting a job as a stock-boy Cliff starts to become a productive citizen working his way up to a stock clerk. But is later fired when he's accused, but later found innocent, of knocking off a fur store for $40,000.00. Meanwhile Tim feeling that he can't make it big in the world of business and finance for himself as well as his girl Peggy ,Gane Bryan, goes out and with a few friends and beats up and mugs a drunk for $6.00. With Cliff finding out what Tim did he locked him up in his room and proceeds to knock some common sense into his hard and pig-headed skull.
It's with him getting all fed up with all the obstacles thrown in his path that keeps Cliff from straightening himself out that he reluctantly goes to the local bookie joint when he get in touch with Chuck, now a big shot in the New York mob, for a job with his gang as a bank robber. Knocking of a number of banks and armored cars Cliff sends his share of the stolen loot to Tim telling him that he got himself a job as a door to door salesman selling trackers and farming equipment to farmers in upstate New York.
Tim using the money that his big brother Cliff mailed him opens up a garage but as you would have expected it turns out that he get's unloved with Chuck's and Cliff's gang. That happens after they tried to rob an armored car ending up with a number of people being shot and killed. The Chuck Martin Gang making their getaway to Tim's garage and then having the scared and confused Tim bamboozled into helping them. Chuck tells him that his brother Cliff was also involved in the shootout which was a lie; Cliff had already broke with Chuck's gang and went back to being an honest and law abiding citizen.
Cliff finding out about his brother Tim being now involved in a crime that can possibly land him in the Sing Sing electric chair, there were a number of innocent persons killed goes to the police and makes a deal with them. The deal is to have the now in custody Tim identify Chuck and his gang that in return the D.A would drop all charges against him.
Cliff now finally realizes that he put Tim in this deadly position by him going back to his criminal ways. He now has no choice but to later confront Chuck & Co. and with taking the blame for Tim's fingering them on himself he'll thus let the chips fall where they may and take everything, good or bad, thats coming to him.
Cliff coming back home get's his first taste of reality, as being a man with a criminal record, with the girl that he left behind Sue, Margot Stevenson, dropping him like a hot potato. Sue seeing that there's no future for her in hitching up with the unwanted, by society, and unemployable ex-convict. Cliff is also a bit disturbed with his hot-headed younger brother Tim, William Holden, wanting to follow in his footsteps as a hoodlum. Feeling that it's the only way for him to get out of the hopeless poverty that he finds himself in working on and off as a grease monkey whenever he can find work at the local garages.
We see the hardships that Cliff has to contend with as an ex-con no matter what job he get's through the help of his kindly and caring parole officer Masters,Henry O'Neill. From a grease monkey, like his brother Tim, to a loader of heavy equipment at a plant where he's forced to lay out a fellow worker who was breaking his chops.
Finally getting a job as a stock-boy Cliff starts to become a productive citizen working his way up to a stock clerk. But is later fired when he's accused, but later found innocent, of knocking off a fur store for $40,000.00. Meanwhile Tim feeling that he can't make it big in the world of business and finance for himself as well as his girl Peggy ,Gane Bryan, goes out and with a few friends and beats up and mugs a drunk for $6.00. With Cliff finding out what Tim did he locked him up in his room and proceeds to knock some common sense into his hard and pig-headed skull.
It's with him getting all fed up with all the obstacles thrown in his path that keeps Cliff from straightening himself out that he reluctantly goes to the local bookie joint when he get in touch with Chuck, now a big shot in the New York mob, for a job with his gang as a bank robber. Knocking of a number of banks and armored cars Cliff sends his share of the stolen loot to Tim telling him that he got himself a job as a door to door salesman selling trackers and farming equipment to farmers in upstate New York.
Tim using the money that his big brother Cliff mailed him opens up a garage but as you would have expected it turns out that he get's unloved with Chuck's and Cliff's gang. That happens after they tried to rob an armored car ending up with a number of people being shot and killed. The Chuck Martin Gang making their getaway to Tim's garage and then having the scared and confused Tim bamboozled into helping them. Chuck tells him that his brother Cliff was also involved in the shootout which was a lie; Cliff had already broke with Chuck's gang and went back to being an honest and law abiding citizen.
Cliff finding out about his brother Tim being now involved in a crime that can possibly land him in the Sing Sing electric chair, there were a number of innocent persons killed goes to the police and makes a deal with them. The deal is to have the now in custody Tim identify Chuck and his gang that in return the D.A would drop all charges against him.
Cliff now finally realizes that he put Tim in this deadly position by him going back to his criminal ways. He now has no choice but to later confront Chuck & Co. and with taking the blame for Tim's fingering them on himself he'll thus let the chips fall where they may and take everything, good or bad, thats coming to him.