East of the River 1940

Mama Teresa runs a small New York cafe, a quiet refuge amid the city’s bustle. She keeps her son Joe Lorenzo John Garfield out of reform school and adopts his hopeless, homeless pal Nick William Lundigan, hoping they’ll stay out of trouble.

Joe’s life of crime funds Nick’s education, and he pretends to be out west running a ranch, but in truth he has just completed a sentence in San Quentin. After his release, he returns to New York with his girlfriend Laurie Romayne Brenda Marshall, a convicted forger, to witness Nick graduate from college.

Laurie is drawn to Mama’s wholesome way of life and also falls for Nick. Joe, who has come to NYC seeking trouble, tracks down Scarfi Jack La Rue and Turner Douglas Fowley, insisting they framed him into San Quentin. Pretending to make amends, Joe convinces them to supply a $15,000 advance for a major safe-cracking job, then secretly hints to the police.

On the night of the heist, Joe slips away in the darkness. Scarfi panics and kills a police officer, an act that ultimately leads to Scarfi’s electrocuted fate. Hearing that Turner has escaped, Joe realizes he is now a marked man and leaves New York City behind.

Back in the city, word reaches him about Laurie and Nick’s upcoming wedding. He attends a luxurious pre-wedding party, pretending to be a good sport, but when he’s alone with Laurie he threatens to reveal her prison record to Nick unless she cancels the wedding and returns to him.

Overhearing this, Mama Teresa confronts Joe, reminding him she has always known about his penitentiary time and denouncing him as a bad seed she wishes had never been born.

Shamed, Joe goes to Laurie’s room, only to find her being held captive by Turner and his men. He offers to endure whatever they want as long as they drop Laurie at the church so they can take him for a one-way ride, and Turner agrees.

When they arrive at the crowded church, Joe escapes his captors long enough to assault a police officer. Turner doesn’t dare try to grab Joe back, and makes a hasty retreat. As Joe is taken away to the safety of jail, he happily waves goodbye to the wedding party.