Dr. Richard Kimble arrives home and witnesses a one-armed man running from his house, leaving behind his murdered wife. Charged with the crime and sentenced to death, Kimble's train, while en route to the prison where he is to be executed, accidentally derails, allowing him to escape from his captor, Lt. Philip Gerard. Now this innocent man, constantly looking over his shoulder, travels around the country in pursuit of the real killer.

Wrongly accused of murder, Dr. Richard Kimble escapes the night before his execution and goes in search of the real killer while Lt. Gerard is hot on his trail.