In the postwar period, James Stewart entered a new stage of his iconic screen career, moving away from portraying the boyish characters that made him a star to more complex roles. Carbine Williams gave him one of the best: a real-life convicted killer who, while in prison, invents the short-stroke piston, an innovation that revolutionizes the M1 carbine. Eight million of these weapons were produced during World War II, and General Douglas MacArthur proclaimed the rifle as "one of the strongest contributing factors to our victory in the Pacific." Throughout this engrossing film, Stewart invests Williams' remarkable life story- from chain gang to business office, from hellraiser to devoted family man- with grit and integrity.