After his father, a multimillion-dollar stockbroker, is indicted for embezzlement and sentenced to prison, Bob Cain Jr., feels betrayed and condemns the old man. He then quits college and begins to search for a job. Because of his father's notoriety, however, Bob is denied job after job and is still unemployed one year later. When Mickey Dwyer, a notorious gangster who was sentenced on the same day as his father, is paroled from prison, Bob decides to visit Dwyer's lawyer, Judge Emmett T. Brennan, to see if he can win a parole for his father. While waiting for the attorney, Bob meets "Lucky" Dubarry, Dwyer's girl friend. After Brennan informs Bob that only money can win a parole, Bob assumes the name of Johnny Apollo and joins Dwyer's gang in order to raise enough money to get his father out of jail. Upon learning that his son has become Dwyer's henchman, "Pop" Cain, one of the most beloved inmates in the prison, disowns Bob. Soon after, a reform administration determined to crack down on crime comes into office, and Lucky, who has fallen in love with Bob, convinces Brennan to make a deal with the district attorney: Bob's freedom in return for Dwyer's conviction. Learning of the double-cross, Dwyer murders Brennan, and both he and Bob are sent to jail. After overhearing plans for an escape, Lucky tips Pop to the break and the old man arrives just in time to prevent his son from joining Dwyer. In the ensuing struggle, Dwyer shoots Pop and knocks Bob unconscious, making it look as if Bob shot the old man. Dwyer dies in the escape, and as Pop lies in critical condition from his wounds, there is talk of sending Bob to the chair. Pop regains consciousness, however, and reconciles with his son. After both men are paroled, father and son start a new life as free men, and Lucky and Bob are united.