After his death sentence is commuted to life in prison, John Resko (Ben Gazzara) is transferred from Sing-Sing to Dannemora Prison where, with the help of a humane prison guard, he becomes a rehabilitated man and a successful painter.

A semi-fictionalized version of John Resko's incarceration is presented. John (Ben Gazzara) is on death row at Sing Sing for murder. In December 1930, he killed a toy store shopkeeper (Arthur Malet) over a teddy bear he wanted to get as a Christmas present for his two-year-old daughter, Cathy, but for which he could not pay. Twenty minutes before John's scheduled execution, he is given a reprieve, his sentence commuted to life, and he transferred to Dannemora. He initially has a difficult time adjusting to life at Dannemora, from the uncaring direction of the prison administration including they not dealing with the issue of bed bugs, to altercations with fellow prisoners who seem to want their two pounds of literal and figurative flesh from John, to news that he receives from the outside about goings-on within his family. However, he does eventually befriend many of his fellow prisoners, especially Nick (Timothy Carey), Iggy (Ray Walston) and Wino (Sammy Davis Jr.). John dreams of escaping from Dannemora, so that he can be at least an economically generating father for Cathy (Susan Silo), even if she may not want to resume a life with him. But one of the principals at the prison may have a way to get prisoners like John out of the system, by giving them creative outlets to show parole boards what is in their innermost thoughts. He wants to nurture what seems to be John's artistic abilities. Although John initially balks at the idea of art as an outlet, he does eventually get a passion for it, which leads to an outcome not expected by either the principal or John.—Huggo

After his death sentence is commuted to life in prison, John Resko (Ben Gazzara) is transferred from Sing-Sing to Dannemora Prison where, with the help of a humane prison guard (Stuart Whitman), he becomes a rehabilitated man and a successful painter.

This movie is about the progression of John Resko's (Ben Gazzara) character as he is commuted from the death sentence for killing a man to life in prison. Not only is he transferred to a new facility, but his guard (Stuart Whitman), who believes that man can be rehabilitated, has requested a transfer from death row. They end up in the same prison, and over the next 18 years, John deals with his lot through attempts at escape. He has a talent for art, and the guard seeks to encourage John to continue his drawing, as much to help himself rise as to do John a good turn. The guard creates classes for writing and drawing with the expectation that the prisoners work will show the council their progression toward rehabilitation. John resists his talent at first, and only sees it as another potential avenue to release himself. After he has had his art shown outside the prison walls, petitions come in for his return to society, even from the wife and children of the man whose life he took. The outside world is a constant theme throughout the years, and John catches glimpses of it from infrequent family visits. During all this, the audience also follows the rise of the guard to Principal Keeper. Both men realize their goals as John one day walks out a free man, and rejoins his now adult daughter (Susan Silo) and her family.