Three young turn-of-the-century New York City urchins are caught stealing wallets and hauled before a judge. Young Mary and Mike have no criminal records and are remanded to their parents, but scrappy little Ross Hadley is sent to reform school. 15 years later, Mike McGlennon (Russell Hayden) is a true-blue lieutenant in the NYPD, Mary has resurfaced as Vi Parker (Nancy Kelly), the sultry "Garter Girl" cabaret singer, and Ross Hadley (Chester Morris) is an infamous casino mogul. Fate and an underworld gambling feud between Hadley and his greasy competitor, Chappie Wilson (Sheldon Leonard) bring the three together again, but the budding love triangle is caught in a crossfire of corruption and ambition.

Chester Morris is best known for playing Boston Blackie in 13 movies and a radio series in the 1940s. Acting since his teens, Morris is notable for appearing in eccentric director Roland West's only three talkies: Alibi (1929), for which he garnered an Oscar nomination, The Bat Whispers (1930) and Corsair (1931). Twenty years later, he received Roland West's deathbed confession for the unsolved 1935 murder of actress Thelma Todd.