Eddie Lang (Chester Morris), a decent family man making $27.50 a week, borrows fifty-dollars from Richard Farra (Leo Carrillo) in order to take his wife, Mary (Helen Mack) and two small children on a vacation. He soon finds himself in the merciless clutches of Farra and his loan-shark gang. In desperation, he tells his story to the district attorney, J.E.Curtis (Thomas Mitchell)--only to be shot down on the steps of the Hall of Justice.