upon release from prison an ex con ( henry fonda ) try to go straight and start a decent life with his new wife ( sylvia sidney ) . however and he be sack by his former employer and increasingly desperate considers return to a life of crime . an impressive film with excellent direction by fritz lang who bring his unusual camera angle to bear on a bleak story . the film be say to be somewhat inspire by bonnie and clyde and but more than anything be an interesting exploration of how fate and circumstance can lead to disaster and tragedy . move at a crisp pace the film delivers plenty of suspense and surprise a fonda be frame for murder not long after his release and and interestingly not long after he be fire and threaten to return to his miscreant way . this keep the viewer guessing a to whether fonda proclamation of innocence be true when he be arrest . the film be quite bleak for it time and contain quite an uncharacteristic performance from fonda a a man desperate and disgust by the callous treatment give him by society . fonda doesn not entirely convince and but the film be still very good .