The name on the crate the escapees were clinging to in San Francisco Bay is "H. Schlom". Herman Schlom is the film's producer.
According to a contemporary article in The Hollywood Reporter, on the basis of his performance in this, his first film, Erford Gage was given a long-term contract with RKO. The studio immediately kept him very busy - he had roles in eleven films released in 1943 alone. However, he would not live to fulfill his contract. He enlisted in the US Army that year and rose to the rank of sergeant. He was killed in 1945 fighting to liberate the Philippines and is buried at the American Cemetery at Manila. He was 32.
Seven Miles from Alcatraz (1942) was Edward Dmytryk's first film for RKO but it rates only a brief paragraph in his autobiography (It's a Hell of a Life But Not a Bad Living ): "By the time I had finished Sweetheart of the Campus (1941) (for Columbia), my agent had gotten me an interview at RKO. The result was Seven Miles from Alcatraz with James Craig and Bonita Granville. Nazi shenanigans in a lighthouse. Good for experimenting with techniques, and I was getting damned sick of it. But at least I was in new territory."
Seven Miles from Alcatraz (1942) is an American action film directed by Edward Dmytryk. The screenplay concerns two prisoners who break out of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. The Joseph Krumgold screenplay was based on the unpublished short story "Sou'West Pass" by John D. Klorer. The stars were James Craig and Bonita Granville.