This is a well-meaning and impressive low-budget film of historical importance. The first half shows the deplorable state of the penal system in the United States in the 1930s. Then the second half of the movie tries to show how conditions could be improved. But the sad thing about watching the film today is that the first half is TRUE. It was true in 1939 and it's still true now, in 2022. (If anything, they downplayed how awful things really were, and are.) The second half, however, is FALSE. No significant reforms were ever made. The system is just as bad today as it was then, or even worse. :(