The plot of Jeopardy revolves around an American family on vacation in Mexico and their encounter with an escaped convict and psychopath, played with relish by Ralph Meeker. The film’s direction (by John Sturges), screenplay (by Mel Dinelli), and cast—with Barbara Stanwyck in the lead role—are first rate. Jeopardy was the first of four collaborations between Sturges and Tiomkin. Later in the decade, Tiomkin would score Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, The Old Man and the Sea, and Last Train from Gun Hill.