 A couple of 1930s Great Depression-era convicts, Ned and Jim, jailed on never-specified charges and abused by a ruthless warden, are dragged along when a vicious killer named Bobby escapes the electric chair.The two end up in a small upstate New York town near the Canada–US border, where they are mistaken for a pair of priests expected at the local monastery.They want to flee but cannot, since misunderstandings and the warden's search party looking for Bobby make a trip across the bridge to Canada almost impossible.