Nick Romano lives in a poor tenement building on the south side of Chicago with his well-meaning but drug-addicted mother, Nellie. She encourages him to pursue his piano-playing talent in hopes that it will bring him a better life. Nellie's neighbors, like the alcoholic ex-lawyer who secretly loves her, help her in keeping Nick away from Louie, the resident drug dealer. But a chance meeting between Nick and Louie could change things forever.
Burl Ives
as Judge Bruce Mallory Sullivan
Shelley Winters
as Nellie Romano
James Darren
as Nick Romano
Jean Seberg
as Barbara Holloway
Ricardo Montalban
as Louie Ramponi
Ella Fitzgerald
as Flora
Rodolfo Acosta
as Max
Philip Ober
as Grant Holloway
Jeanne Cooper
as Fran
Bernie Hamilton
as Goodbye George
Walter Burke
as Wart
Francis De Sales
as Night Court Magistrate
