36 Hours to Kill

Duke and Jeanie Benson, a criminal couple hiding in a suburban community, learn from a newspaper that a sweepstakes winner has yet to claim his prize. Duke realizes he is the winner of $150,000 with his own ticket and decides to claim it discreetly to avoid arrest. This revelation sets the plan in motion for their escape and potential payout.

Duke decides to leave for Kansas City, where he purchased the winning ticket, hoping to claim the prize. He boards a train, intent on reaching the city without attracting suspicion, while Jeanie plans to fly there and have a third party claim the winnings. Their escape plans are underway as they move toward their goal.

At the train station, reporter Frank Evers boards the train and meets Duke. Also, Anne Marvis joins at San Bernardino, where she hides in Duke's room after finding the door open. The train becomes a setting for the developing relationships and unfolding suspicions among characters.

Jeanie boards the train after her plane is grounded and suspects Duke's involvement with Anne, believing they are having an affair. She draws a gun, but Duke calms her fears by claiming Anne is her husband Frank, leading to a tense deception among the characters.

Frank and the train conductor listen through a hidden device to Duke and Jeanie's arguments about their plans in Kansas City. Frank, a G-man, hopes to capture the gang while preventing Duke's arrest, keeping close tabs on the couple's movements.

Jeanie leaves the train at Albuquerque to fly to Kansas City. Meanwhile, Duke tries to flirt with Anne but is rejected. Their interactions reveal underlying tensions and the complexity of their relationships amidst the chase.

Anne discloses she is a Los Angeles reporter subpoenaed for her investigative work on a political scandal. She is working undercover and is caught between her professional integrity and her personal interactions with Duke and Frank.

Duke learns that another man has claimed the lottery prize. He sends his lawyer Rickert to dispute the claim with the insurance company handling the contest, attempting to secure the money for himself in a plot to evade the law.

While Duke plans to leave with Anne after collecting the money, she attempts to escape from the sanitarium to avoid being manipulated. Jeanie helps her, but Duke's gang traps her again, leading to a confrontation as Duke tries to take the money.

In a final confrontation, Duke shoots Frank after agents arrive, and Jeanie shoots Duke when he is about to escape with Anne. Duke is fatally wounded, and Jeanie mourns his death. The gang is captured, and Anne is relieved that Frank is only wounded.

Frank and Anne, now a married couple, ride the train together once more. Their adventure concludes with them safe, and Anne satisfied with the resolution, having navigated through deception, danger, and crime.