詹姆斯(保罗·穆尼 Paul Muni 饰)是在第一次世界大战里为国出生入死的战士,战争结束之后,他离开了前线,然而,詹姆斯却并不满足于去过平凡的生活,他决定周游美国,寻找能够发财的机会。然而,事情并没有詹姆斯想象的那么简单,很快他就变得一贫如洗。 一天,在一位工友的见一下,他们来到一家汉堡店,直到此时,詹姆斯才意识到,他们此行并不是要来用餐,而是要来抢劫的,就这样,詹姆斯上了贼船。之后,詹姆斯好不容易摆脱了犯罪生涯,前往芝加哥开始新的生活。凭借着他的努力和智慧,詹姆斯很快便成为了建筑业里冉冉升起的新星,可这是,他的过去死灰复燃。Having returned from fighting in World War I, James Allen doesn't want to settle into a humdrum life and decides to set off to find his fortune. He travels the length and breadth of America, working as a skilled tradesman in the construction industry. When times get tough however, he finds himself living in a shelter where an acquaintance suggests they go out for a hamburger. What the friend really has in mind is to rob the diner and Allen soon finds himself working on a chain gang with a long jail sentence. Allen manages to escape however and heads to Chicago where over several years he slowly but surely works his way up the ladder to become one of the most respected construction engineers in the city. His past catches up with him and despite protestations from civic leaders and his many friends in Chicago, he finds himself again on the chain gang. Escaping for a second time, he accepts that to survive, he must lead a life of crime.