Augie "The Banker" Ciamino (played by Keenan Wynn) is a vicious and brutal bootlegger who has developed a seemingly foolproof way of manufacturing liquor. He has equipped over a hundred immigrant homes with small stills to actually make the stuff and a unique way of collecting the product. Not everyone in the immigrant community is participating in the illegal liquor-making operation and Ness visits a night class where adults learn English, and writes his phone number on the blackboard.