Based on the story "This Guy Gideon" by Don "Red" Barry, it features strong religious overtones.

One week before getting out, he sees a newsreel showing Johnny welcoming home his heroic brother Jess, a Catholic chaplain just returned from a World War II prisoner-of-war camp.

He hires Carla North, who once stayed in the room, and lost her brother in World War II, to help him search.

Deducing who the man was, Nick goes to Johnny's trucking company office and murders manager Warni Hazard.

Johnny insists on taking the book and Cabrillo agrees to let him have it, but they learn that it was taken only an hour earlier by a young, beautiful woman.

Johnny angrily goes to church where, in a burst of rage, he breaks a stained-glass window that he had recently donated in thanksgiving for Jess' safe return from the war.

Johnny is initially angry and disappointed, until Carla asks him to re-read what his brother wrote and consider that it was the last instruction he left him.

Roy Del Ruth and his associate Joe Kaufman brought the film rights in May 1946 from Barry and producer Lou Rock.

[3] Del Ruth set up his production company at Monogram Pictures, who were trying to expand into more prestigious films.

[5] Del Ruth started doing background filming in San Francisco in June 1947,[6] followed by delay.

[7] Del Ruth wanted Edward G. Robinson, William Bendix and Charles Bickford for the main roles.

[9] In September 1948 Joseph Kaufman, who worked for Del Ruth, said they were trying to get Robert Ryan to play the lead.

[13] The Los Angeles Times said the film "generates suspense and promises to emerge as a taut, exciting melodrama" but that it was let down by its "religious reform theme".

[14] The New York Times said the film was "in the main, a contest familiar to Raft's retinue of fans, complete with hard, laconic characters, a search for a culprit, a few fireworks and with the Word in the Good Book as its sole, extraordinary twist.