Basically the story of two tenement-bred Italian-American childhood friends who grow up with radically different views on crime, and are pitted against each other while following their chosen paths: Gangster Martin Rome is seriously wounded during a gun-battle in which he has killed a policeman, while Police Lieutenant-Detective Candella, of the homicide squad, is seeking the solution to another murder in which he suspects Rome could have been involved. Rome is taken to a prison hospital, but he escapes and murders again in an attempt to protect a girl who was innocently involved in some of his crimes. From there, the detective tries to track down Rome, and attempt to shatter the artificial illusions or hero worship on the part of Rome's younger brother.—Les Adams