20,000 Years in Sing Sing

Tommy Connors (Spencer Tracy), a cocky tough guy, is sent to Sing Sing but is confident that he will not have to follow the rules of prison life. When his smooth lawyer, Joe Finn (Louis Calhern), tries unsuccessfully to bribe warden Paul Long (Arthur Byron), however, it becomes clear that Connors is now just another number. Connors and Long battle in a contest of wills, in which Long practices his modern theories of reform. Long begins to see results when Connors does not participate in an escape attempt. Eventually, Long puts his honor system to the test when he trusts Connors outside the walls, but when his girlfriend, Fay Wilson (Bette Davis), is assaulted, Connors gets mixed up in another crime that may cost him his life.