Augie "The Banker" Ciamino (played by
Keenan Wynn) is a vicious and brutal bootlegger who has developed a seemingly foolproof way of manufacturing liquor. He has equipped over a hundred immigrant homes with small stills to actually make the stuff and a unique way of collecting the product. Not everyone in the immigrant community is participating in the illegal liquor-making operation and Ness visits a night class where adults learn English, and writes his phone number on the blackboard. His visit is followed by Ciamino's thugs who give the teacher, who welcomed Ness and left his phone number on the blackboard, a beating in front of his students. When shopkeeper Renzo Raineri intervenes, he learns that his son, a bookkeeper, is part of Ciamino's organization. Once Ness and his men learn how Ciamino collects the liquor, they try to catch him with goods but through intimidation and murder, the mobster proves to be elusive.
—garykmcd