an excellent cast and direct make the racket a must see for the silent movie fan and fan of gangster movie in general . star thomas meighan a capt . mcquigg and a no nonsense police officer in chicago who do not back down from the mafia big bos nick scarsi ( play by louis wolheim ) . nick scarsi be the leader of the chicago mob who have every politician and judge in his hip pocket and and in return for fix the local election and scarsi be apparently immune from the long arm of the law and much to the chagrin of capt . mcquigg . however and it be a woman name helen hayes ( play by the beautiful marie prevost ) that be the undoing of scarsi and whom refers to woman a poison several time throughout the film . helen prove to be the final dose of poison for this underworld bos a she get him to admit to the killing of a couple of people in front of capt . mcquigg and the district attorney . the acting and storyline of the racket be excellent and and the cast bring believability and conviction to the character they play .