Street Bandits

L.T. Mitchell of Acme Amusement Enterprises is the frontman for a group of slot-machine racketeers. During a meeting in his office with his lawyer William Carrington and his mobster partner Monk Walter, he discusses the new anti-gambling ordinances which the district attorney and the police are taking seriously. Carrington, who is uncomfortable with Walter's violent business tactics, advises that they lie low for a while, but Walter feels that too much money is at stake to pull back. Always ready to use physical coercion to motivate local business owners, he wants to keep the current machines in operation, while expanding the presence of slot machines into new locations. Their heated discussion is interrupted by Fred Palmer, an overeager, young lawyer, who has just opened a law office down the hall with his partner, Tom Reagan. Fred's invitation to their open house party is rudely brushed off by Carrington, but Tom convinces young stenographer Mildred Anderson to join the party. Mildred is attracted to Fred, and Fred's mother Martha approves. Though she feels ill, Martha is also quietly celebrating, because she has put Fred through law school by running a neighborhood store and doing odd jobs. When the law firm is not immediately successful, Tom considers an offer to work with the district attorney, while Fred eagerly agrees to represent Walter, who is arrested on charges of possessing nitroglycerin explosives. Before the trial, many advise Fred to have Walter plead guilty, but by switching the exhibited bottle of nitro for a bottle of water, and claiming false evidence, Fred wins the case. Walter is free to murder a slot machine manufacturer who has raised his prices, and then has Mitchell set up a corporation to buy the murdered man's company under the name Bancroft Corporation. Although he is unhappy with Fred's clients, Tom works on the Bancroft contracts, unaware that the company is owned by Mitchell. Mildred, who is courting Fred, convinces him to break off from the mobsters. However, when his mother's heart condition worsens, Fred feels compelled to make the law office a success and agrees to represent Walter when a witness comes forward, claiming to have seen him at the scene of the factory owner's murder. Tom, who has discovered Bancroft Corporation's connection with Mitchell, insists that Fred drop the disreputable clients. Fred refuses, so Tom dissolves the partnership and takes the district attorney position. During the trial Fred and Tom repre