In "No Escape," James Cagney stars in a cautionary tale about a man who wins an award for being a safe driver but then kills several people while driving to the award banquet.
As the episode opens, Harry Graham explains that he is just like anybody else. He is just like the next guy. So, what happened to him? Why, it could have happened to you.
Harry lives in a small town with a highway running through it and lots of problems with speeding drivers. In response, the town council established a safety campaign and created a "Safe Driver of the Year" award. This year, they awarded their prize to him.
On the night of the banquet, Harry said goodbye to his kid brother,Ted, and got in his car to pick up his girlfriend, Eve. He was running late, so Harry decided to take Canyon Road, where there wasn't as much traffic.
As he was driving down the center of the dark mountain road, he reached for the cigarrette lighter, and when he looked up...
"No Escape" was written by Larry Marcus and produced/directed by Anton M. Leader. James Cagney starred. Lurene Tuttle played Eve. This episode aired on December 16, 1948.
It's a little heavy-handed, but then again "Suspense" always was when it did cautionary tales like this one. Cagney is fantastic and there's great tension in the car ride with his girlfriend and the police chief.
Posted by: Jack | December 20, 2010 at 06:37 AM