 When Public Enemy No. 3 Sonny McGann (Broderick Crawford) meets composer Bob Gunther (Johnny Downs), he gets the idea of having Bob write music to a poem he has written about his long-lost sweetheart Sadie McGlonsky. Somewhere between kidnapping and gentle persuasion, Sonny takes Bob and his girlfriend Linda Carroll (Peggy Moran) to his penthouse hideout and orders Bob to write the music. After completion, Sonny and his mob use some strong-arm persuasion to get it on "The Hit Parade." Bob tries to trick Sonny saying he can t write any more music because of his unrequited love for music comedy star Magda Delys (Gertrude Michael). Sonny s solution is to have his men bring Magda and a minister with a marriage license to the penthouse. Bob is forced to begin the ceremony but Public Enemy No. 2, Big Foot Louie (Warren Hymer), barges in and reveals that his own hobby is writing music. And Sonny recognizes Magda as his long-lost love Sadie McGlonsky. He and Big Foot decide to quit the rackets and surrender to the District Attorney so they can collaborate on writing hit songs "in the pen."