Warner Baxter takes over a state prison and attempts to reform cruel and outdated practices. He does not know that the guards are corrupt, taking bribes from prisoners for cushy spots. He also doesn't know that his new wife, Anna Lee, is the recent girlfriend of one of the prisoners, Harlan Warde. He's in for five years for stealing $80,000 from his former employer. He says he didn't do it. the audience won't know until the end of the movie whether he did or he didn't, nor where Miss Lee's loyalties lie.
It's an interesting set-up for a movie, but the script is run-of-the-mill, and director Seymour Friedman's direction is mechanical. Few of the actors raise much of a performance, except for Reginald Watkins as "English Charlie", a lag who serves as the butler at the warden's house; he's in for forgery and is the one note of comic relief in this dully moral second feature.
It's an interesting set-up for a movie, but the script is run-of-the-mill, and director Seymour Friedman's direction is mechanical. Few of the actors raise much of a performance, except for Reginald Watkins as "English Charlie", a lag who serves as the butler at the warden's house; he's in for forgery and is the one note of comic relief in this dully moral second feature.