Todd Duncan

In New Orleans, young Kit Latimer, who loves and plays the African-American music of the city, moves to Chicago with her architect father, George. Over the next several years, Kit discovers that the ragtime of her childhood has developed into jazz. Struggling coronet player Johnny Schumacher befriends Kit, who is arrested after her music incites a riot at a club. Upon release, the two form a band.

This fact-based prison drama tells the tale of a band of prisoners living in the innovative 2,600-acre prison at Chino, California. The place takes a humanistic approach to reform and there are no armed guards, no lockups and no uniforms. The underlying philosophy is that if these things are not there, the prisoners will not want to escape, and will instead accept their punishment. A new inmate arrives and soon accustoms himself to the new idea. The story includes the Oscar nominated song Unchained Melody.