This powerful depiction of life in a depression-era Welsh mining town features Michael Redgrave as Davey Fenwick, the idealistic son of a collier, who aspires to improve the lives of the local miners by fighting for reform in their treacherous workplace. But his efforts are hampered by the machinations of a cunning former friend, Joe Gowlan (Emlyn Williams), and the indifference of a callous, grasping wife, Jenny Sunley (Margaret Lockwood), who help to provoke an explosive conclusion that none had foreseen.