In a deliberate throwback to 1940s films noir, Chandler, a former private eye from that period, takes up his old work again, and finds himself constantly driving old cars.

He is ostensibly hired by the government to protect a witness, Katherine Creighton, from a gangland leader, John Melchior, who wants to kill her.

Chandler gets his gun back from a pawn shop and follows the French woman Creighton from the moment of her arrival in Los Angeles.

Producer Michael Laughlin and director Paul Magwood were irate at the involvement of MGM studio head James Thomas Aubrey, Jr. in the film's production.

[2][3][4]The cutting was so severe and last minute that actors Royal Dano and James Sikking are still listed in the credits, even though their roles were completely removed.