 Crusading newspaperman Cliff Roberts (Douglas Kennedy), masquerades as a prison guard and gets a job attached to the chain gang. Using a tiny camera in the shape of a cigarette lighter, he takes pictures of and documents the miserable conditions. The sadist guard captain, Captain Duncan (Emory Parnell), learns about Cliff s activities and has him beaten by the other guards. Roberts escapes to write his expose that brings about some prison reforms.