After his death sentence is commuted to life in prison, John Resko is transferred from Sing-Sing to Dannemora where, with the help of a humane prison guard, he becomes a rehabilitated man and a successful painter.

A rustic drama set in the early 20th century, Hound Dog Man is the simple story of a young man, Spud Kinney constantly in hot water for disobeying his mother. The lad should be watching the family farm, but he falls in with his older brother, Clint, and his reckless buddy Blackie Scantling who take him hunting in hillbilly country. The boy falls in love with a beautiful mountain girl, while Blackie has his own fling with another attractive hillbilly maiden, Nita Stringer, and then becomes mixed up with an older, married woman, Sussie Bell.