[2][3][4][5] Structured as an hour-long second feature, it is directed by the prolific specialist in low-budget action productions, B. Reeves Eason, and stars Van Johnson, who is top-billed above the title, in his first credited film role[6] which represents the entire output of his six-month contract with the studio.
[7][8] The female lead, Faye Emerson, billed alongside Johnson above the title, played starring and co-starring parts in a small number of B pictures during 1940s and achieved TV stardom at the end of the decade and in the 1950s as a glamorous interviewer and personality during the medium's formative years.
Following Johnson's rise to become the 1945 top box-office attraction as a leading man and Emerson's marriage to the president's son, Elliott Roosevelt, the film was re-released to theaters in late 1945 and early 1946 under the title Born for Trouble.
Meanwhile, Ainslee contacts the governor and, finding out that the execution will proceed as scheduled, assigns "Scoop" to go to the prison for Malloy's incriminating information.
The night of the execution is stormy and reverberates with thunder as Warden Bevins (William Gould) tells the assembled reporters that Malloy has just been punished by a higher power via the bolt of lightning which fatally struck him through the window of his cell.
Warden Bevins readily agrees to an investigation, with "Scoop" and Bert being told by everyone, including "Mile-Away" Gordon that Malloy could not have been taken to the chair without anyone's knowledge or notice.
"Scoop" and Bert become disheartened and decide to return but, during the drive back, their car becomes the target of bullets and attack by another automobile, causing it to crash.