The four Newton brothers are a poor farmer family in the 1920s. One day, the oldest of them, Willis, realizes that there's no future in the fields and offers his brothers to become bank robbers. Soon the family agrees. They become very famous robbers and execute the greatest train robbery in American history five years later.

In this true life murder mystery, we know early on "whodunnit" (the butler, actually), but the surprising charm in the story stems from the fact that the lawyer is honest and morally upright. The story of William Marsh Rice and his legacy, Rice University, where much of the film was shot.

A blind Vietnam vet, trained as a swordfighter, comes to America and helps to rescue the son of a fellow soldier.