À Nous la Liberté (1931) on Netflix

Émile and Louis are friends and cell-mates in a French prison. Their life inside is one where they are required to do labor intensive assembly work. They have a plan to escape together, but when time comes for the escape, only Louis is able to make it out. On the outside, Louis becomes a captain of industry by opening his own successful phonograph manufacturing company. Although he has no further plans for an escape feeling he wouldn't be able to do it without the assistance of his friend, Émile does manage to seize an opportunity for an escape himself. On the outside, he gets a job at Louis' primary phonograph factory, not initially knowing it is owned by his old friend. Their reunion coincides with Louis' plans to upgrade his factory operations to a more mechanized one. As they deal with their lives - which includes women issues and staying one step ahead of the law - they learn that modernization, either at the factory or elsewhere, may ultimately lead to that emotional freedom they so desire that doesn't come from escaping from the physical confines of prison walls. They also learn that this freedom has its own consequences.