Kate Soffel is married to a prison warden in Pittsburgh, and is the mother of their four children. Ed Biddle is a convicted murderer awaiting execution on death row with his brother Jack. When Kate meets Eddie through her Bible readings to the prisoners, she is drawn to him, and they pursue a clandestine relationship. She agrees to help the brothers escape, and begins a treacherous journey with them to freedom in Canada.
Two hoodlums, Trigger (Mickey Rooney) & Leo (Dick Emery) are hired by the unscrupulous J.K. (Peter Cook) to kidnap his niece Victoria (Alexandra Bastedo). The daughter of a wealthy businessman has been kidnapped, and the chief of police, under a lot of pressure to find her as soon as possible, assigns officers Kopek (John Candy) and Broom (Lawrence Dane) to track her down and bring her back safe and sound.
