In 1929, middle-class bank clerk Eddie Clark, unhappy with his lot in life and jealous of prosperous George Bates, an ex-suitor of his loyal wife Agnes, steals $200,000 from his bank, with intentions of he and Agnes being in Mexico before the theft is discovered. Agnes tries to persuade him to return the money to no avail. He is caught and sent to prison without revealing the hidden location of the loot, figuring to get it and live in luxury when his ten-year term is over. His case has received much publicity and nearly every inmate in the prison attempts to wrest the information from him. Gangsters on the outside arrange with convicts Clyde Sutter and Butch McQuinn to get the secret from him. Agnes, who has taken a waitress job in a nearby city, is also trying to find the money with the intention of returning it and getting Eddie a reduced sentence. Sutter`s plan is to involve Eddie in a prison break and turn him over to the gangsters on the outside.