An unromanticized portrait of the rise and fall of a gangster. Raised in the slums, Shubunka (Barry Sullivan) ruthlessly forces his way to power in the underworld. As boss he wants--and wants his associates--to forget the illicit enterprises he employed to gain his power. But his bid for respectability fails. In realizing his ambition he has made no friends, known no happiness and tormented his girlfriend to such an extent that she finally betrays him to a rival gang. Ultimately his unrelenting desire for power puts him back where he started, in the gutter, with no hint of the glamor or the glory of success left in his bullet riddled body.