Frank Machine (Frank Sinatra), an expert card dealer and heroin addict, is finally released from prison and hopes to get his life in order and kick his drug habit. Frank's wife, who was in a car accident years before caused by him, fakes paralysis in order to keep him under her control. She wishes him to continue his gambling habits to support her; all the while he is struggling to kick his drug addiction and is also afraid that he's lost his gambling touch.
