Build a movie plot around this: Who is the man Helen comes across? The fugitive, Lawson
Doug and Helen Stilwin (Barry Sullivan and Barbara Stanwyck) along with their son Bobby (Lee Aaker) embark on a vacation into desolate Baja California in Mexico to a remote, deserted fishing spot along the coast that her father used to frequent with his old military buddies. At a roadside barricade heading into the Baja outback, they are inspected by police but are not told about an American killer who has escaped from prison and is at large in the area.Upon arrival at the secret fishing spot, young Bobby goes exploring out onto a precarious, rotting jetty high above the water. His foot gets stuck in a crack between boards, and when Doug gets him out, the jetty collapses and a wooden piling falls on Doug's leg and traps him on the beach just as the tide is coming in. Helen nearly succeeds in lifting the piling with their car jack, until the jack breaks. They quickly determine that if Doug is not freed within a few hours, he will drown in the rising surf.Helen leaves with the family car in an attempt to find help. She comes across a family of Mexican ranchers, but the language barrier prevents them from realizing that she is looking for rope until she is far gone. Helen then comes across a small house and finds rope, but seemingly out of nowhere, a man (Ralph Meeker) appears. Helen asks for help and the man gets in the car, but around the corner of the house, it is revealed that the man just killed a worker, and is the fugitive, Lawson, the police are looking for. He takes her hostage, and threatens to kill her if she reveals to the police that he is the fugitive.Meanwhile, the rising tide back at the jetty causes Doug to have a heart-to-heart with Bobby, telling him he is proud of his son and hopes he will face the challenges ahead with strength. A boat passes close to their location, and shouts are exchanged, but thinking the family is just tourists on a beach outing, the boat crew does not stop.Lawson runs through a police roadblock, and eventually blows out a tire. As he attempts to change the tire,...