In 1931, two white women stepped from a box car in Paint Rock, Alabama to make a shocking accusation: they had been raped by nine black teenagers on the train. So began one of the most significant legal fights of the twentieth century. The trial of the nine falsely accused teens would draw North and South into their sharpest conflict since the Civil War, yield two momentous Supreme Court decisions and give birth to the Civil Rights Movement. In addition to its historical significance, the Scottsboro story is a riveting drama about the struggles of nine innocent young men for their lives and a cautionary tale about using human beings as fodder for political causes.
The "war to end all wars" was over, but a new one was just beginning - on the streets of America. In one big city alone - Chicago - an estimated 1,300 gangs had spread like a deadly virus by the mid-1920s. By 1926, more than 12,000 murders were taking place every year across America. With the bootlegging and speakeasies the "Roaring Twenties" also saw bank robbery, kidnapping, auto theft, gambling, and drug trafficking become increasingly common crimes. Some gangsters, perhaps most notably Al Capone, have become infamous. 2003 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Al Capone. Capone went on to leave a lasting impression on western culture - the American Gangster.
A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.