| Synopsis | - Teenage orphan Johnny Greer is adopted by an elderly flower shop owner named Oliver Brown, who brings Johnny on to sell flowers for the business in St. Lois. Johnny becomes infatuated with Orchids, and chooses to sell them on his shifts.
Finding no customers in the slums around the flower shop, a police officer tells Johnny to try and sell his expensive Orchids in Downtown St. Lois, near the nightclubs and dance halls. Finding a repeat customer in Angel Serkin, Johnny makes a hundred dollars a week, until Serkin is taken out in a mob hit on New Years Eve. Scarred by the incident, Johnny spends his time shooting targets at the local midway, where he is discovered by Maxie and Fagin, a pair of mobsters working for Pete Flavia. When Johnny, who insists on being called Johnny Orchid, meets Flavia, Flavia tells Johnny he wants him to kill rival mob boss Tony Nicola to prove his loyalty. Johnny, recognizing Flavia as Angel Serkin's killer, storms out of the building.
Two weeks later, Johnny shoots and kills Nicola on a golf course, and returns to Flavia's headquarters to shoot Flavia dead. Johnny makes himself the new head of the outfit, and proceeds to spend the next few years out muscling, dissolving, absorbing, and out right killing any other gang in the Midwest. Johnny makes himself known to the rest of the underworld by marking all his kills by leaving a blood-covered orchid in the hand of his victims.
After marrying a young woman named Cora, and buying a an Orchid farm, Johnny and his crew prepare to take out the last mob boss left in the Midwest, Pop Lang. However, on his way there, Cora betrays Johnny and calls Pop Lang to tip him off to the hit. As soon as Johnny arrives at the gang's meeting place, they're ambushed by Lang and his men, who kill everyone but Johnny.
Taking Johnny's bloody body to a basement, Lang and his men beat Johnny within an inch of his life, and dump him in a lake to die. Johnny is found the next morning by a Greek junk picker named Nick, who nurses Johnny back to health over the next year. Johnny once again starts selling Orchids in downtown to make ends meet, and on chance comes across Lang on a date. Lang, failing to recognize Johnny, buys a bouquet of Orchids. Unbeknownst to Lang, Johnny has hidden Nitroglycerin in the flowers; Johnny sets off the Nitroglycerin, which kills himself, Lang, and a number of Lang's men in a final act of revenge.
- Martin Lippincott, industrial tycoon, embodies the epitome of masculinity; a miner who rose to a filthy rich captain of industry, he finds fault in all those who fail to live up to his hyper-masculine expectations. One of those people who fails to meet those expectations is his son, Ronald. While Martin would prefer his son engage in things like boxing, or taking up engineering in order to one day take on the Lippincott family business, Ronald desires to be a doctor, and devotes his time to his studies. After Martin calls Ronald a gutless coward, Ronald's mother Margaret suggests Ronald accompany his father on his annual big game hunting trip to Africa.
Ronald agrees, and Martin is ecstatic. Ronald and Martin's entire relationship changes; they go to movie premieres and watch New York Yankee games, and become close friends. They eventually travel to Africa, along with Margaret, only to find that the village of their guide Zumbo is deserted. They learn that a large gorilla has killed a number of villagers, but Martin decides to proceed with the hunt anyway. After trekking through the jungles, they happen upon a lion. Martin insists Ronald takes the kill, but Ronald hesitates and the lion attacks. Martin manages to shoot the lion before it harms anyone. Infuriated, Martin disowns Ronald, and they head back.
On their way back to the village, the large gorilla Zumbo warned them about attacks and carries Martin away. Ronald and his mother follow their trail, and Ronald attacks and kills the Gorilla with a makeshift spear. In the struggle, Ronald kills the gorilla, but has his back clawed by the beast, and passes out. While Margaret nurses both Martin and Ronald back to health, the local villagers grow worried when the family doesn't return. After searching for them, they bring the family back to the village, and, impressed by Ronald's bravery, the African tribe makes Ronald their first white chief. Martin grows to accept his son's medical career decisions, and tearfully confesses how impressed he is in Ronald.
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