Two wild and rebellious teenagers in love find that their eager wedding plans are being complicated by family members and roughneck gangsters.

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.

A 17-year-old high-school senior marries a 20-something law student who works as a waiter. Who said marriage was bliss?