Elmer Jackson is a carpenter in a small Californian town in the 1930s. Struggling to bring up 4 young boys after the death of his wife, he is horrified when the Government (citing trumped-up charges of parental neglect) places the boys into various foster homes and institutions, unaware of the abuse that boys would then be subjected to. The conditions imposed by the court and the difficulties caused by the Depression make Jackson's determined and vigorous quest to find his boys extremely difficult.