At camp, little Danny Lambert has an asthma attack. The nurse tries to give him a shot but he runs off into the woods. Jerry "The Iceman" Barker (Ralph Meeker) finds him and kidnaps him for ransom. Jerry gets $200k from his wealthy father. The boy dies in an accident and Jerry buries the ransom money. He is caught by FBI Agent James Madden and sent to the Big House. Without the boy's body, he could only be convicted of extortion. They need to break him and place him in a cell with four hardened lifers; William 'Machine Gun' Mason (William Talman), Alamo Smith (Lon Chaney Jr.), Benny Kelly (Charles Bronson), and Rollo Lamar (Broderick Crawford).
The kidnapping part could have been something intense but it's all done in a matter-of-fact manner. I also don't like the narration which is a relic of this era. The father looks too old. He's 50 going on 60. A younger father could exaggerate his flustered mannerisms. The first part could have been better and quite frankly, it could have been cut out for the most part. The prison part gets interesting with the addition of these great actors. I wouldn't mind expanding that section. All in all, it's an intriguing crime drama and prison drama.
The kidnapping part could have been something intense but it's all done in a matter-of-fact manner. I also don't like the narration which is a relic of this era. The father looks too old. He's 50 going on 60. A younger father could exaggerate his flustered mannerisms. The first part could have been better and quite frankly, it could have been cut out for the most part. The prison part gets interesting with the addition of these great actors. I wouldn't mind expanding that section. All in all, it's an intriguing crime drama and prison drama.