Danny Haley's bookie operation is shut down, so he and his pals need money; when Danny meets Arthur Winant, a sucker from out of town, he decoys him into a series of poker games where eventually Winant loses $5000 that isn't his...then hangs himself. But it seems Winant had a shadowy, protective elder brother who believes in personal revenge. And each of the card players in turn feels a faceless doom inexorably closing in. Dark streets and sexy torch-singer Fran lend ambience.
A brilliant but disgraced Civil War general is sent to a sleepy Tennessee town for a second chance. As his risky tactics win battles, a dangerous affair with a married woman threatens to unravel everything—especially when her jealous husband is offered a fortune to end the general’s life.