乔安（西尔维娅·西德尼 Sylvia Sidney 饰）在公共治安防卫队工作，这也就意味着，她平日里打交道的，都是一些非常危险的犯罪分子。好巧不巧的是，乔安竟然爱上了其中的一个，那是一个名叫艾迪（亨利·方达 Henry Fonda 饰）的男人。　　高大英俊的艾迪给予了乔安一种错觉，那就是他本质上其实是一个好人，只不过一时走火入魔才走上了犯罪的道路。乔安坚信通过自己的努力，能够使艾迪改邪归正重返社会。在乔安的帮助之下，艾迪通过良好的表现获得了减刑，并且最终刑满出狱，之后乔安和艾迪携手步入了婚姻的殿堂。然而，一个人的本性真的能够如此轻易的被改变吗？

Boozy, brassy Apple Annie, a beggar with a basket of apples, is as much as part of downtown New York as old Broadway itself. Bootlegger Dave the Dude is a sucker for her apples --- he thinks they bring him luck. But Dave and girlfriend Queenie Martin need a lot more than luck when it turns out that Annie is in a jam and only they can help Annie's daughter Louise, who has lived all her life in a Spanish convent, is coming to America with a Count and his son. The count's son wants to marry Louise, who thinks her mother is part of New York society. It's up to Dave and Queenie and their Runyonesque cronies to turn Annie into a lady and convince the Count and his son that they are hobnobbing with New York's elite.

　　詹姆斯（伊安·邦纳 Ian Bannen 饰）是一位事业小有成就的银行家，一次偶然中，他遇见了名叫佩尼洛浦（娜塔利·伍德 Natalie Wood 饰）的女子，佩尼洛浦的娇俏可人很快就将詹姆斯迷倒了，两人相识没多久，便步入了婚姻的殿堂。　　让佩尼洛浦没有想到的是，花心的詹姆斯在婚后没多久便恋上了别的女人，在伤心和愤怒之中，佩尼洛浦决定给詹姆斯点颜色看看。一番乔装打扮之后，佩尼洛浦以劫匪的身份将詹姆斯的银行洗劫一空，事后，她将自己的所作所为告诉了心理医生格雷格（Dick Shawn 饰）。可是，格雷格却并不相信佩尼洛浦所言，因为他早就深深的爱上了这个可爱的姑娘。