Steel River Prison Break

Originally Aired: September 3, 1951 Suspense #437, "Steel River Prison Break," starring Jeff Chandler, presents a tense escape drama based on actual events. Bragg, a hardened convict, has meticulously planned a prison break from Steel River Prison with his fellow inmate Muss. When Bragg hears radio reports of rising floodwaters threatening the area, he realizes they must accelerate their carefully timed escape. With a gun smuggled in by an outside contact named Cronin hidden in his radio, Bragg moves up the timetable, taping the weapon to his leg and preparing to make his move. The flood emergency provides an unexpected opportunity when prison guards ask for volunteers to help sandbag the town's flood walls. As the convicts are taken into Frickburg to fill sandbags, Bragg finds himself tantalizingly close to his mother's house, just blocks from freedom. However, when he and Muss are separated and assigned to different work details, Bragg faces an agonizing choice. The automatic taped to his leg cuts off circulation as he works through the day in the rain, but loyalty to his partner and the pressure of the rising waters create mounting tension as the escape plan threatens to unravel.