 American gambler Nick Cain (George Raft) arrives at the Mediterranean town of San Paola, and befriends an orphan Italian shoe-shine boy named Toni (Enzo Staiola). He is puzzled by the reception and welcome he receives from the management of the casino until he finds he has been framed on a charge of murdering a U.S. Treasury Agent. He escapes with Kay Wonderly (Coleen Gray) and they flee to a deserted village where he leaves Kay to hide out. Nick gets aid from a mysterious character named Massine (Charles Goldner), whom he suspects of trying to collect the reward offered on his capture. Nick discovers that the men responsible for the agent s death are members of an international counterfeiting ring, using the casino to pass the bogus money.