Click for larger image

During a broadcast of the evening television news, commentator Elmer Peterson announces that the Senate will investigate Victor Y. Ramondi, head of a large gambling syndicate, then cuts to a live interview with Ramondi and his attorney, John Ashmond.  Pretty, free-spirited Jean Latimer, who is watching the interview with her father Steve in their Lexington, Kentucky home, is impressed by the suave Ramondi's good looks.

Later that evening, while Jean is out on a date with her boyfriend, Vance Court, Ashmond, who is Steve's law partner, pays a visit and persuades him to represent Ramondi during the investigation.  Vance proposes to Jean, as he has many times before, but she tells him she is not ready to settle down.  After six days of testimony, the Senate investigation ends without a conviction.

Jean goes to Washington to attend the final hearing, and joins her father and Ramondi for a drink afterward.  While Steve is away from the table, Jean and Ramondi flirt, and she admits that her father's drinking worries her.  Back in Kentucky, Jean is at a horse auction with Steve and Vance when Ramondi shows up and extravagantly outbids Vance for a colt.  He reveals that he has taken a lease on a lavish plantation in the area sight unseen, and while Jean gives him a tour of the place, he kisses her.

Vance is waiting outside when Jean gets home, having just put the drunken Steve to bed, and she openly tells him she is interested in getting to know Ramondi better.  Jean and Ramondi begin dating, and one evening, after dancing at the country club, they return to his house and kiss passionately.

The next day, Jean joins Steve and Vance at the racetrack and tells them Ramondi gave her the $20,000 colt he bought at the auction.  Vance warns Jean to end her relationship with Ramondi and walks away.  When her father expresses his disapproval, Jean insists that Ramondi loves her, but Steve replies that a man who does not respect himself does not care about anyone else.  At her father's insistence, Jean returns the colt, and tells Ramondi she now knows about his shady past.  Ramondi vows that he will change, and requests a meeting with Steve.

Late that night, Steve shows up unexpectedly at Ramondi's house and insults him when he speaks of marrying Jean, then is shocked to see his daughter come downstairs from the bedroom.  Jean reluctantly goes home with Steve, and after an ugly quarrel, agrees to join him for a vacation in the Big Smokies.  After four days, however, Jean grows restless and returns to Ramondi, and the couple drives to New York to be married.

In New York, Ramondi tells his close associate Charles "Chico" Menlow, that he plans to retire and settle down in Lexington, despite Chico's warning that quitting will bring trouble.  Later, Chico calls Ramondi to a meeting with the syndicate and shows him a newspaper headline announcing that the Senate might reopen the investigation, as a "mystery witness" is expected to provide new evidence.  Chico says the witness is Steve, but Ramondi dismisses this as a bluff.  After Ramondi leaves, his associates agree that he is a liability to their organization, and Chico muses on how his old friend's "accidental" demise would solve a lot of problems.

Steve is waiting at the hotel when Ramondi returns, and says that although he cannot testify against a former client, he can produce witnesses who will attest to Ramondi's past crimes, adding that a warrant is being issued for the murder of two mobsters.  In a rage, Ramondi strikes Steve and threatens his life.  Jean angrily tells Ramondi they are through, despite his attempts to intimidate her into staying with him.  Ramondi gets in his car and drives away, but while stopped at a light, he is shot to death.

The next day, at a press conference, Jean comes forward and says she broke the engagement when she learned her father was right about Ramondi.  Jean asks Steve to take her home, and they embrace.