Plot: Junkie Frankie Machine has just returned to his north-side Chicago neighborhood after a six month incarceration. He took the fall as the dealer for Schwiefka's raided illegal high stakes poker game, Schwiefka who in turn promised to take care of Frankie's wife, Sophia - who everyone calls Zosh - while Frankie was in prison for Frankie not talking. For three years, Zosh has been in a wheelchair, the result of a car accident caused by Frankie, the guilt associated which led to Frankie marrying her, despite he now being in love with a young woman named Molly, a strip club hostess, who lives downstairs in their tenement building. While in prison, Frankie became clean and learned how to play the drums, which he hopes will lead to a drug-free life on the outside as a union-carded musician. Dealing for Schwiefka, especially in high pressure all night games, exacerbated his need for drugs to remain on the edge during the games. Louie, Frankie's drug supplier, knows this, he who works in unofficial collaboration as the senior partner with Schwiefka. Despite Schwiefka and Louie trying to lure Frankie back into his old life, Frankie believes he can steer clear of that life. However, with their maneuvering, it may make it more difficult than Frankie imagines. But what Frankie may be unaware of is that the biggest obstacle to his staying clean in a literal and figurative sense is Zosh, who is keeping a secret all in an effort to hang on to Frankie and not have him leave her for specifically Molly.
Alternative Plot: When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his former employer, small-time con man Schwiefka (Robert Strauss), and Frankie's old drug dealer, Louis (Darren McGavin), re-enter his life, Frankie finds it hard to stay clean and eventually finds himself succumbing to his old habits.
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