''Chicago's American'' reporter Hildebrand "Hildy" Johnson has just quit his job in order to marry Peggy Grant and start a new career, when convict Earl Williams escapes from death row just prior to his execution. Earl is an impoverished, bumbling Left-wing politics whose only offense is stuffing fortune cookies with messages demanding the release of Sacco and Vanzetti, but the Yellow journalism of Chicago has painted him as a dangerous threat from Moscow. As a result, the citizenry are anxious to see him put to death.