Macheath, a notorious thief, pimp and murderer more commonly known as Mack the Knife among his criminal cohorts, marries Polly, the daughter of Jonathan Peachum, in a dubiously legal wedding ceremony. Peachum and his wife set out to destroy their nefarious son-in-law, but Mack is good friends and financial partners with Tiger Brown, the Chief of Police, who is protecting him. Yet, when Peachum, who outfits and controls all the panhandlers in town, threatens to ruin Queen Victoria's Coronation by having his army of beggars line the streets during the ceremony, Brown has no choice but to imprison Mack, where he is certain to meet a bloody end.