Luke Jackson is a cool, gutsy prisoner in a Southern chain gang, who, while refusing to buckle under to authority, keeps escaping and being recaptured. The prisoners admire Luke because, as Dragline explains it, ‘You’re an original, that’s what you are!’ Nevertheless, the camp staff actively works to crush Luke until he finally breaks.
When the new warden comes in disguised as an inmate, he sees firsthand all the corruption and scams the guards and prison officials are running. After disclosing his real identity, he sets out to correct.
Based on the true story of the tragic 1939 voyage of SS St. Louis carrying hundreds of German Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany which was sent to Havana in 1939 but was denied permission to land anywhere.