In Chicago of the 1920s, crime gangs are fighting a bitter battle for power. Gangster boss Bill Cracker plans a bank robbery with his cronies in Bill's Ballhouse just as the ladies of the Salvation Army enter. Among them is the magical Lilian, who Bill immediately falls for.

This has an impact on the planned coup. Shootouts, chases, and the fight for the big money are the ingredients to this comedy, whose famous songs Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill wrote.