It's been said that your whole life unfolds before your eyes during your last, fleeting moments of existence. Not so for convicted murderer John Allen. After he's strapped into the electric chair and the switch is thrown that sends the fatal current through his body, he -- and the movie audience -- sees the chain of events that turned Allen from amiable high-rise construction worker to brutal killer. Edward G. Robinson reteams with Mervyn LeRoy, the director of his star-making Little Caesar, to portray Allen, a man descended into psychotic rage. Vivienne Osborne portrays the manipulative dime-a-dance dame who plays on John's good nature and lives long enough to see it turn deadly.