At first, Brian (Clu Gulager) is thrilled to start his new job as a prison guard. But then he encounters an alarming amount of corruption involving the warden and his fellow guards. Meanwhile, an unlikely new inmate arrives: quiet professor Jonathan Paige (Alan Alda), convicted on charges of murder in self-defense. Things look bad for Paige when he runs afoul of Hugo Slocum (Vic Morrow), top dog of the vicious prison gangs. Brian wants to interfere, but the prison staff remains indifferent.