In the United States during the Roaring Twenties, Raphael McDonald, Paul L. Smith, is a hard-edged boxer who fights in matches and also works as a mechanic in a small family workshop. After a bout with Black Bull, a dispute erupts when his brother Angel, Antonio Cantafora, keeps the money Raphael won, a decision that sparks a tense debate: Angel argues the winnings should be reinvested for bigger profits, while Raphael suspects the funds were squandered.
Across the nation, in the western town of Highfalls, a deeper clash unfolds between progressives and conservatives. This feud is framed by the shady figure of Mr. Shark, portrayed with quiet menace by John Ireland, who cloaks his personal interests beneath a veneer of tradition. To settle the quarrel, the town’s mayor announces a race between cars and carriages, a spectacle meant to symbolize the pivot from old to new.
On Angel’s plan, the brothers seek out Professor Arcangelo, Franco Pesce, and head for Highfalls. In the town square Raphael meets Willy, a lively boy who greets him with a playful thorn-punctured handshake, while Angel is drawn to Evelyn Sutton, Evelin Kaye, whose eyes seem to respond to his every move as they walk together. Angel’s shiny new car draws the unwelcome attention of Shark’s men, who smear the vehicle and provoke a brawl. Raphael intervenes, sending the aggressors to the back of a truck, and the two brothers, accompanied by Professor Arcangelo, Willy, Evelyn, Linda Sutton, and Polly, the family’s little girl, head to lunch at Linda’s home.
Linda Sutton, Fiona Florence, hosts their gathering, and the ongoing taunts from Shark’s men mix with the playful mischief of Willy and Polly, who keep Raphael on his toes and often spark bursts of anger in him. Amid the levity, the first sparks of romance flicker between Angel and Evelyn, even as Angel has to duck out to the restroom after another prank on Raphael. The town’s danger grows as Shark’s forces strike again, this time smashing a wagon belonging to Angel’s transport business. In a fierce response, Raphael is drawn into a confrontation that zigzags through golf- and baseball-themed skirmishes, highlighting the unconventional nature of their street-war violence.
Raphael longs to recover the money he believes Angel has hidden away, and his search leads him into a warehouse where he encounters Black Bull in a removing-tensions showdown. The two men clash, but a begrudging respect begins to form as Raphael refuses to allow Angel to dictate financial moves and instead considers returning to town with Black Bull, leaving Angel to confront the consequences. Polly and Willy’s cries reveal that Shark’s men have abducted their pet lamb, a cruel prank that escalates tensions and makes Raphael redouble his resolve to protect his family.
Taking advantage of Raphael’s distraction as he negotiates with several men, Angel seizes the moment to steal the money and uses it to buy land, feeding his growing ambition while the lamb’s distress underscores the damage of their fractured trust. Realizing his brother has slipped away with the fortune, Raphael turns his attention back to the perilous district and faces Black Bull once more in a high-stakes showdown.
The race itself becomes a turning point: with their usual car unable to start, Angel reveals a startling invention from Professor Arcangelo—a hang glider—that allows them to conquer the course in an audacious, almost cinematic ascent. They sail over the track, catching sight of Black Bull, who admires their daring and oddly chooses to divert, seemingly aiding their progress. Landing near a barn, they uncover another vehicle stashed nearby and, leveraging this surprise, they cross the finish line first.
In the aftermath, Angel and Raphael’s simmering feud erupts again as they argue over the newly acquired land and the consequences of their earlier schemes. The two end up beside a well on the purchased property, where their dispute spirals into a raw confrontation. In a final, almost fateful twist, Professor Arcangelo reveals an unexpected discovery of oil beneath the land, closing the chapter with a note of possibility and a hint of new conflicts to come.
