Buried Alive

Inmate trustee Johnny Martin is destined for an early parole. As Warden Jim Henderson's personal driver, Martin is allowed freedom that most prisoners only dream of. His bright future is jeopardized, though, in the wake of a drunken bar fight between prison executioner Ernie Matthews and Manning, a loudmouthed reporter. Given the task of chauffeuring Matthews from the bar, Johnny gets mixed up in the fistfight before rescuing his charge from the melee. The unscrupulous Manning decides to exact his revenge through the scandal sheets, printing an article that accuses Martin of being drunk, and of starting the fight. Amid the bad publicity, the governor orders that the parole board deny Johnny his release. Accused by a fellow inmate of murdering a guard in an escape attempt, the jury hands Johnny a death sentence. The execution fast approaching, Johnny's only hope for salvation is his allies in the Warden's office, who must prove that the only witness in the case has lied.

Robert Wilcox's life in the public eye was defined by his stormy relationship with wife Diana Barrymore, daughter of quintessential matinee idol John Barrymore. Onscreen, he played opposite Peter Lorre in Island of Doomed Men, starred as masked hero Copperhead in the Republic serial The Mysterious Dr. Satan, and generally took roles in similar B pictures.

• drama