Plot: Hot out of prison, career criminal Doc Riedenschneider has a penchant for the ladies and enjoys the thrill of a heist. Not one for reformation, he immediately masterminds an elaborate jewel robbery and secures the promise of financial backing from corrupt lawyer and married playboy, Alonzo D. Emmerich. Doc carefully recruits a small group of specialized criminals from the bowels of a familiar bookie joint but still needs his 'heavy' and identifies a kindred spirit in wild card Dix Handley, an adrift soul that just happens to be in the right joint and the wrong time. Former farm boy Dix isn't the commitment type, but something about Doc's enthusiasm inspires him to action. Together, the team absorb Doc's plan as if it were their path to salvation from a society as spiritually bankrupt as they feel. But even the best-laid schemes of heists by men go awry as co-conspirators are apt to betray and alarms are wired for sound. Featuring Marilyn Monroe in her breakout role.
Alternative Plot: Recently released from prison, Dix Handley (Sterling Hayden) concocts a plan to steal $1 million in jewels. Dix gathers a team of small-time crooks, including a safecracker (Anthony Caruso) and a lawyer (Louis Calhern), and the heist is a success until a stray bullet kills one of the men. As they scramble to pick up the pieces after the theft, the men let their greed get the best of them while entangling themselves in webs of deceit, treachery and murder.
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