The 1949 film "Flamingo Road" is a drama about a woman who arrives in a small Southern town and manages to cause a lot of trouble. The town political boss tries to kick her out of town but that just makes her angry. She marries one of his political opponents and eventually has a showdown with the boss. At one time her wealthy boyfriend can not produce two nickel five cent coins to purchase sodas from a vending machine. She gives him two Jefferson nickels which are shown in close-up in the film.

The film opens with a prologue taken from the first page of the book:

The first scene shown is of a travelling carnival:

The Coyne (coin?) travelling carnival has stopped near the town of Boldon City located in an unnamed Southern state. Lane Bellamy (Joan Crawford) is a dancer with the carnival.

Lane dances with two other girls. The carnival closes leaving Lane unemployed and homeless. Fielding Carlisle (Zachary Scott), a wealthy local man serving as an assistant to the town's political boss Sheriff Titus Semple (Sydney Greenstreet). Fielding is sent to check out the carnival site and finds Lane sleeping in an abandoned tent.

The two talk and Fielding is impressed with Lane.

Fielding takes her to a local restaurant.

Lane wears a bracelet made of connected coins. Fielding arranges a job for Lane as a waitress for the restaurant. Fielding has been seeing Annabelle Weldon (Virginia Huston), a local girl whom he is planning to marry.

Titus Semple finds out about his assistant Fielding seeing Lane Bellamy and orders him to marry Annabelle right away which he does. Titus does not want Lane around to bother Fielding and uses various means to encourage her to move on, including getting her fired from her job. The restaurant owner fires Lane and pays her off.

Lane finds out that Titus is behind her firing and goes to see him.

Lane is defiant and tells him that she plans to stay in Boldon City. Semple has Lane arrested for "solciting" and sent to the women's prison. After she is released she returns to the town and takes a position with a nightclub run by Lute Mae Sanders who is also a political power and not under the control of Titus Semple. Dan Reynolds is a powerful state politician who owns a construction company in Boldon City. He is based in the state capitol of Olympic City and has come to Boldon City to meet with local officials. They meet at Lute Mae's club.

Dan meets Lane and they start seeing each other.

Dan Reynolds and Lane Bellamy exit the car.

Dan tries to purchase bottled drinks from a vending machine but lacks small change.

Lane sees his predicament and solves it.

Lane gives Dan two nickels which are shown in close-up.

The nickels shown are a Jefferson nickel obverse and reverse. Jefferson nickels were minted starting in 1938. Dan hands Lane a bottle.

The crossed bottles result in love.

Dan and Lane kiss and he asks her to marry him which she does. They move to a mansion on Flamingo Road. Lane has "arrived."

Fielding has started drinking heavily and Titus Semple "fires" him. Titus decides to run for governor and meets with Reynolds's men. Titus threatens to expose the misdeeds of the men including Dan Reynolds.

Fielding, drunk, visits Lane at her house.

Fielding complains about Semple and then pulls a gun and shoots himself. Titus is sitting alone playing solitaire.

Lane visits him and tells him not to make trouble for her husband Dan. She gets her point across the old fashioned way.

Lane and Titus fight over the pistol and Titus is fatally wounded. The investigators imply to Dan that Lane will not be charged with a crime.

Dan and Lane hug each other.

Joan Crawford as Lane Bellamy
Zachary Scott as Fielding Carlisle
Sydney Greenstreet as Sheriff Titus Semple
Virginia Huston as Annabelle Weldon
Gladys George as Lute Mae Sanders
David Brian as Dan Reynolds
Director: Michael Curtiz
Writers: Robert Wilder, Edmund H. North
Based on the 1942 novel Flamingo Road by Robert Wilder and the 1946 play by Wilder and his wife Sally