In the roaring twenties Chicago, chorine Roxie Hart murders her faithless lover and convinces her hapless husband, Amos, to take the rap... until he finds out he's been duped and turns on Roxie.

Convicted and sent to death row, Roxie and another "Merry Murderess," Velma Kelly, vie for the spotlight and headlines, ultimately joining forces in search of the "American Dream": fame, fortune, and acquittal.