Chance, Kings and Desperate Men

In January, 1937, you do whatever you can to get by. Matthew Becker is a recent college grad, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and a crack shot since childhood. He’s also one step away from the breadlines. He makes money on both sides of the law while trying to find meaning, honor and self-respect in a world of chaos. Becker and his best friend Angelo are driving back to Jersey from a crooked boxing match outside Philadelphia when they come upon two gangsters beating a man to death. The victim is Becker’s manager, Mendy Schecter, a Brooklyn wise-guy long on talk and short on charm. Still, it would be bad manners to leave him. They shoot both hoods dead and get Mendy to safety. Becker and Angelo are no choirboys. They grew up in a tough immigrant neighborhood and know the rules. Interference in Mob business is a death sentence. Now they have to get away or get dead. They volunteer for The Republic in the Spanish Civil War. The choice of joining the volunteers in Spain or staying with the love of his life and caring for his dying father has tortured Becker for months. Now the decision has been made for him. But on their way to fight Franco, Becker and Angelo are intercepted by a Party agent in Paris who needs men with special skills. The Fascists in France are backed up by the Gestapo and The Cause needs someone lethal enough to go up against them. From the ganglands of America to the backstreets of Paris and the trenches of the Spanish Civil War, CHANCE, KINGS AND DESPERATE MEN depicts the demands of duty, friendship and conscience in tragic conflict with the moral ambiguities of war.