It's 1943 & Newport Kentucky (AKA LIttle Mexico) is the bawdiest spot in America. Dozens of illegal casinos & brothels like the major thoroughfares. The Cleveland Syndicate controls almost all major sources of gambling in the area, as well as anyone who matters in the city's goverment. Nick Cavanaugh, a sailor on leave finds himself embroiled in the power struggle between independant casino owners Carl & Pearl Jules & the powerful Syndicate. When one of the mob's thugs put Carl Jules into a coma, Pearl digs in her heels & vows never to give up, even if it means being tossed in the Ohio river wearing a Newport nightgown of cement.