Exploring the public domain month begins with the movie that made a star out of Paul Robeson. The movie, based on the 1920 play of the same name, follows the path of corruption of Brutus Jones. Jones, an innocent church-going man, gets a job as a Pullman porter and heads to the big city up North. A road of fast women, gambling and a total misfortune of friendship lands Jones in jail. Once escaped, he gets on a ship and jumps overboard to a nearby island. The island, a tiny military dictatorship, is easily overthrown by Jones's wits, and he and the one white man on the island rule with an iron fist.