In the 1920's, the ambitious small-time thief Jack Diamond and his ill brother, Eddie, arrive in New York. Jack meets the dance teacher Alice Shiffer and uses dirty tricks to date her and steal a necklace from a jewelry store. After a stint in prison, he goes to work for Alice in the dance school during his probation. Then he decides to work as a bodyguard for the powerful gangster boss Arnold Rothstein (who dubs him "Legs") with the intention of taking over his illegal business of bootleg booze, drugs and gambling. When Rothstein is murdered, Legs Diamond sells protection to other gangs. While vacationing in Europe with Alice, he reads in the news of changes in the New York underworld with the Volstead Act enacting Prohibition and returns home to find a different city - one that he no longer understands.
—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil