WOMEN'S PRISON

A ruthless superintendent of a prison, Amelia van Zandt, makes life hell for the female inmates. Her rules are rigid and she makes no exceptions.

The newcomer Helene Jensen is not a hardened criminal by any means, but a woman convicted of vehicular homicide after she accidentally killed a child. Out of place here, Helene is so distraught that Van Zandt has her placed in solitary confinement. When Helene goes into hysterics, Van Zandt has her put in a straitjacket. Helene nearly dies.

The prison has two wings, one for women, one for men. One of the inmates, Joan Burton, has been illicitly having conjugal relations late at night with her husband, Glen, a convict in the other wing. Now she is expecting a baby, and brutal men's warden Brock issues a stern warning to Van Zandt that she'd better find out how the two prisoners have been arranging these meetings.

Joan has the sympathy of the decent Dr. Crane who's in charge of the infirmary and disapproves of the cruel treatment of prisoners he sees. But the heartless Van Zandt goes into a literally homicidal rage while interrogating Joan about how Glen managed to visit her, beating the pregnant prisoner to the point of death. Dr. Crane tells Van Zandt and Brock that he will resign after treating her, and report them. Glen manages to sneak into the infirmary, where Crane lets him talk to Joan; she envisions their bright future with their baby after both have done their time, and dies.

A protest erupts in the women's cell block, beginning with a hunger strike organized by Joan's cellmate, Brenda Martin, then turning into a full-scale riot. Naive or timid inmates are swept up along with the vicious, veteran ones. Van Zandt is captured by the inmates; Dr. Crane pleads with them to leave it to the authorities to punish her for Joan's murder, but they refuse and menace her till the guards shoot tear gas and bullets into the wing. Glen, who has obtained a gun, comes looking for Van Zandt to kill her. She flees desperately from Glen, the other inmates and the gas, and Glen, wounded by the guards, confronts her with his gun in the padded cell she had put Helene in. Dr. Crane bursts in just in time to point out to Glen that the ordeal has driven her mad and he need not shoot her; raving, she is put in a straitjacket and taken away. Dr. Crane tells Brock he will no longer be warden after the prison board meets the next day. Helene is released and joyfully reunited with her husband.

Van Zandt is driven mad after being confronted by inmates and Glen, and is taken away in a straitjacket; Helene is released and reunited with her husband.

The film concludes with the authority figure, van Zandt, succumbing to the same psychological torment she inflicted on others, symbolizing poetic justice. The rioting inmates' refusal to wait for official justice underscores the desperation bred by institutional cruelty, while Helene's release offers a rare note of hope. Dr. Crane's resignation signals a possible change in the prison's future direction.