A European man living in the US, Rudolph Abel, is arrested as a Russian spy. An American lawyer, James Donovan, takes on his case but, faced with overwhelming evidence and a biased judge, loses the case. Abel is sentenced to 30 years in jail and Donovan's Supreme Court appeal fails. Just then Francis Gary Powers, the "U-2 Spy", is shot down over Russia and captured. Now Donovan becomes the negotiator in a potential prisoner swap.—grantss