Howard Tyler (Frank Lovejoy) is a family man from Boston, living in California, who can't find a job. He meets a small-time hood, the charismatic Jerry Slocum (Lloyd Bridges). Shortly, Slocum convinces Tyler to participate in gas station robberies to get by. Later, Jerry concocts a plan for the two of them to kidnap the son of a wealthy man in the hope of receiving a huge ransom. Things go wrong when the man is murdered by Slocum then thrown in a lake. Tyler reaches his limit emotionally, and he begins drinking heavily. He meets a lonely woman and, while drunk, confesses the crime. The woman flees and goes to the police.

When the two kidnappers are arrested, a local journalist (Richard Carlson) writes a series of hate-filled articles about the two prisoners which eventually lead to a brutal lynching.
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== osoby ==			== profese ==
	Robert Stillman		Producent

cena	festival	ročník	osoba	nominace/cena
Nejlepší film z libovolného zdroje	BAFTA	5 (1951)	Robert Stillman	nominace
Cena Organizace spojených národù	BAFTA	5 (1951)	Robert Stillman	nominace