Frankie Madison returns to New York after 14 years in prison. Noll Turner, Frankie’s former partner in bootlegging, is now a wealthy nightclub manager, and Frankie is expecting him to honor a verbal ’50:50′ agreement they made when he was caught and Noll got away. Fat chance! Can Frankie, who knows only the strong-arm methods of Prohibition, win out against Big Business? It’ll be tough…even with the unlikely alliance of torch singer Kay (Noll’s ex-girlfriend).

The Biddle brothers, shot while robbing a gas station, are taken to the prison ward of the County Hospital; Ray Biddle, a rabid racist, wants no treatment from black resident Dr. Luther Brooks. When brother John dies while Luther tries to save him, Ray is certain it’s murder and becomes obsessed with vengeance. But there are black racists around too, and the situation slides rapidly toward violence.