Gangster turned legitimate businessman, Martin Martin, is indicted for a long-since forgotten murder and discovers that the star witness is Dane Cory, his accomplice in the killing. Fearing the outcome of a criminal trial, Martin confronts his former partner and is ambushed. Seriously wounded and seeking retribution, he finds shelter in an abandoned building, where he befriends an injured dog. He learns that the dog is owned by a little girl whose mother is providing Cory with a safe place to hide. With his health failing and the police hot on his trail, Martin sets in motion a plan to find his would-be assassin and exact his final revenge.
Based on a story by legendary newspaper reporter and writer Damon Runyon, Johnny One-Eye was directed by Robert Florey, who co-directed Cocoanuts (1929), the first Marx Brothers film, as well as Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), The Beast with Five Fingers (1946), and Tarzan and the Mermaid (1948).