缉毒官员Newlyweds Miguel "Mike" Vargas(查尔登·海斯顿 Charlton Heston 饰）和他的妻子Susie（珍妮特·利 Janet Leigh 饰）来到了美国和墨西哥的边界。马路上发生了一起汽车爆炸事件，Vargas认为这起案件跟毒贩子有关，遂和当地的警察们一起展开了调查。Hank Quinlan（奥逊·威尔斯 Orson Welles 饰）是警察队长，在当地名声甚响。当地警方把嫌疑集中在一个叫Sanchez的人身上，Vargas却在Sanchez的家中发现了证明他不是犯人的证据。然而Quinlan执意认为Sanchez就是犯人。Vargas研究了以前Quinlan办过的案件，对这个赫赫有名的警察队长产生了不少疑问。而Vargas的妻子Susie在旅馆里却被一帮人所绑架并陷害，Vargas怀疑这一切的背后都是Quinlan在操纵。Vargas在和Quinlan的对抗中会有怎样的结局？ 　　本片由执导了《公民凯恩》的奥逊·威尔斯自编自导自演，共有三个版本：1958年发行的版本，1976年的加长版，1998年发现的可能更符合威尔斯想法的版本。　

The action moves along quickly, jumping over holes in the script, in this made-for-television drama about Eve, an ex-terrorist from Germany who is forced to escape to Australia with her teenage daughter Chrissie when she is sought by Riley, a lover from 17 years in the past. In turn, the IRA has sent two members after Riley because he shot an IRA soldier and must pay the consequences. The two IRA operatives looking for Riley come across a really nasty biker who wants vengeance on Eve for setting his car on fire -- and the three men finally track her and Chrissie to the wine-growing country of Barossa Valley. The final denouement is about to explode, as Riley also arrives on the scene. With under-par acting and a patchy plot, this film was never released theatrically.