Socialite Amy Burke lives in spoiled seclusion in the uptown mansion of her millionaire grandfather, Alexander Guthrie. She has a fight with the old man, and goes to live with her father in a tenement on the Bowery. At first Amy is disgusted by her impoverished neighbors,but eventually she assimilates and begins to make new friends. Her grandfather visits to see how the girl is doing and is shocked to find her shooting craps and living like a hoodlum. But when Amy reaches out to save a sick destitute mother who cannot feed her children, Alexander begins to see his granddaughter in a whole new light.

Mary Pickford, "America's Sweetheart" one of the most popular and highly paid actresses of the silent era, was a co-founder of the United Artists studio and one of the founding members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She would star in 52 features and win the 1929 Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Coquette, before the advent of sound would force her into retirement. The Hoodlum was handsomely produced by her own Mary Pickford Company.