Don Domenico Clericuzio is one of the most powerful Mafia chieftains in the United States but his family is locked in a bitter feud with the Santadio family, who are ruthless and bloodthirsty. Worse, the Don's beloved daughter Rose Marie has fallen in love with Don Santadio's son Jimmy and asks her fathers permission to marry him, protesting that he is nothing like his brutal father and brothers. The Don refuses, even when his beloved youngest son Silvio tries to get involved on Rose Marie's behalf. Later, Silvio meets Jimmy and Rose Marie in a diner and promises to persuade the Don to allow them to marry, but he is gunned down upon his escape by Jimmy's brothers, who believed he was involved in an ambush. At the funeral, Jimmy visits Don Clericuzio at great personal risk to offer his cond