They may have busted out of prison, but the World War II battle for freedom has just begun for Alcatraz convicts Champ Larkin (James Craig) and his pal Jimbo (Frank Jenks). Eluding the Rock’s patrol boats, the fugitives capture a lighthouse, taking the denizens prisoner while plotting their mainland escape. But among the captives – a veteran skipper (George Cleveland), his flinty daughter (Bonita Granville), a chatty assistant (Cliff Edwards) and a wily radio operator (Erford Gage) – is a Nazi spy who’s key to a German plot to attack San Francisco. A nimble blend of propaganda and espionage, Seven Miles from Alcatraz is an efficient thriller about two out-for-themselves fugitives who become fighters for democracy. For his first RKO film, director Edward Dmytryk (Murder, My Sweet; Crossfire) keeps the suspense crisp and the action crisper, particularly during one furious fight to the death while ascending the lighthouse’s three levels. Dmytryk’s next movie – Hitler’s Children, reteaming him with Granville, Gage and the Nazi whip – would make a more powerful impact.

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For his first directorial assignment at RKO Radio, Edward Dmytryk was handed the mile-a-minute topical meller Seven Miles From Alcatraz. James Craig and Frank Jenks star as cynical Alcatraz inmates Champ and Jimbo, who manage to escape from the "rock" and then take refuge in the lighthouse maintained by Captain Porter (George Cleveland) and his pretty daughter Anne (Bonita Granville). Though concerned only about their own plight at first, Champ and Jimbo alter their getaway plans to foil a nest of Nazi spies who are using the lighthouse as their rendezvous. As Jimbo explains it, "We may be rats, but we're American rats!", which may be why he and Champ are granted a happier denoument than most Alcatraz escapees. Among the Nazis is a slim and youthful John Banner, two decades removed from his duties as cuddly Sergeant Schultz in TV's Hogan's Heroes.