ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Originally Aired: March 6, 1956
In Suspense #640, "Quiet Night," three convicts on a Florida road gang see their chance for freedom when a routine flight from Havana crashes deep in the Everglades. Harry Bryar, nursing bitter rage over a divorce letter from his unfaithful wife, joins fellow prisoners Joe and Fats as trustees selected to help Sheriff George Upshaw and his deputy Bert reach the wreckage. The sheriff, ignoring his wife Martha's pleas and his doctor's warnings about his failing health, leads the dangerous trek through ten miles of treacherous cypress swamp. What begins as a rescue mission soon becomes something far more sinister as the prisoners recognize their opportunity and the lawmen struggle against both the hostile wilderness and the sheriff's deteriorating condition.
As the group pushes deeper into the mangrove swamp, tensions mount. Deputy Bert keeps his shotgun ready, particularly wary of Harry despite his trustee status, while the brutal terrain takes its toll on everyone, especially the ailing sheriff. The ten-mile journey to the crash site becomes a test of survival, with the promise of a smoke flare to guide them and the very real possibility that not everyone will make it back to civilization.
