Mrs. Alyosius McGonigle McGann is caught once again trying to break
her convict son, Sonny McGann, out of prison. She is shocked to
learn, however, that Sonny does not want to leave, as he is
producing the annual prison show Stick
'Em Up , "the
fulfillment of his life's ambition," and has gone so far as to steal
his own parole papers. Sonny's show is ruined, however, when Charlie
the Chopper, his "leading lady," breaks out. Sonny goes to Warden
Boswell and offers to find Charlie if the warden will allow him back
into the prison after he returns the escapee. Upon his release,
Sonny meets schoolteacher, Doris Daniels (Anne Gwynne), who gives him a ride into
town. She introduces him to singer Cliff Bailey, the prize pupil of
Doris' father Thomas.
Learning that Cliff is unemployed, Sonny
offers to find the singer work. The ex-gangster then breaks into
Charlie's old hideout, and is told by the escapee's gang that
Charlie has already set sail for the South Seas. Sonny then goes
looking for his mother, who is now living in the penthouse of the
exclusive Gleaner's Club, where she is running a panhandling racket
known as the A.A.P., the Amalgamated Association of Panhandlers.
Mrs. McGann asks Sonny to help her eliminate her chief competitor,
Rusty Danny, whose beggars are known as the C.B.H.G., the Charity
Begins at Home Guild. Sonny hires Cliff to masquerade as a beggar in
order to infiltrate Danny's gang.
Disguised as an old man, Cliff is
taken to Danny's hideout, where Sonny and his men break up the rival
gang. With his mother's business problem solved, Sonny convinces
Cliff to take Charlie's place in the prison show. Sonny then breaks
back into prison, while his men kidnap all of the top New York drama
critics. Just before the show, however, Cliff refuses to dress up as
a woman, and underlines his objections by punching Sonny. Singing
instead in a clown costume, Cliff is a big hit with the critics and
talent scouts, and is offered a singing contract even before the
show has finished. The show itself is also a great success, and
Cliff and Doris are romantically united. Mrs. McGann then admits to
Sonny that she is proud of him, noting that before she married his
father, she was in show business herself.
producer when given the job for the prison show. His
preparation is temporarily interrupted when his jail sentence ends, but this
give him the chance to round up some new talent as well as reclaim the escapee
who had been assigned the duties of feminine lead. All Pendleton's efforts
prove to be worthwhile as Broadway looks like the first stop after prison.
Entertaining forensic show business.
