Bill Whitlock has been temporarily promoted from guard to warden at the state penetentiary when he is cruelly informed by the prison board that he is to be demoted. Meanwhile, mechanic Jimmy Hutchins becomes unwittingly involved in a jailbreak when Jack Lang, a confederate of convicts Chuck Burkhart and Buzz Miller, instructs the unsuspecting Jimmy to meet him in the country so that he can show the plans to Jimmy’s new motor to some friends. Inside the prison, Burkhart and Miller take Bill hostage and then force Jimmy to drive the getaway car. During the chase, a motorcycle officer is killed, and the escape car runs off the road. Bill shoots the fleeing Burkhart and confiscates the bag of stolen money he finds in the dead man’s possession. Embittered by his demotion, Bill decides to keep the booty, while Jimmy is charged with murder. The boy protests his innocence, claiming as his alibi the plans that he was to show Lang, but at the trial, Lang denies his involvement with Jimmy and the boy is sentenced to hang. After the boy’s sentencing, Bill discovers Jimmy’s plans in the bag with the stolen money, thus thrusting him into a moral dilemma when Jimmy’s appeal is denied. After Lang visits Jimmy and tells him about Burkhart’s loot, Jimmy accuses Bill of stealing the money and joins in a prison break with Dippy, the prison trustee. As Dippy and Jimmy speed into a police trap, Bill comes to their aid, only to be shot by Dippy. Although he dies before he can testify on Jimmy’s behalf, the warden’s signed affidavit clears the boy of all charges. More on Wikipedia or Mubi
Watch The Big Guy (1939)
