Patrick Martin (Joseph Cotten), known as P.M., is a wealthy attorney and rancher in the border town of Nogales, Arizona. Upon returning home, he discovers his brother, Donald (Van Johnson), hiding in his garage. Donald, a former drunkard, was sent to prison five years earlier for killing a man in a barroom brawl—a crime committed in self-defense, but P.M. hadn't defended him, resulting in his conviction. Now escaped, Donald pleads with P.M. to help him cross the flooded Santa Cruz River into Nogales, Mexico, where his wife (Shirley Patterson, credited as Shawn Smith) and children (Kim Charney and Sandy Deschler) are in desperate straits. The situation worsens when P.M. reveals the river is impassable for days. Adding to the tension, P.M.'s wife, Nora (Ruth Roman), is unaware of Donald's identity and criminal past. Introducing Donald to Nora and their high-society friends as an old friend, P.M. is anxious to keep Donald away from alcohol. When Donald learns his family’s desperation has become dire and P.M. refuses to help financially, Donald confronts him, then flees into the rain with a couple of bottles of whiskey. Cast: - Joseph Cotten as P.M. - Van Johnson as Donald - Ruth Roman as Nora - Jack Carson as Breckinridge - Brad Dexter as Miller - Jim Davis as Cady Runtime: 88 minutes.