The Man Who Dared is a 1939 American crime film directed by Crane Wilbur and written by Lee Katz.
The film stars Jane Bryan, Charley Grapewin, Henry O'Neill, Johnny Russell, Elisabeth Risdon and James McCallion.
[1][2] In the late 1930s, whistleblower, Stuart McCrary, and his wife, Mary, are killed by Nick Bartel and other henchmen of the town's corrupt mayor to prevent McCrary's upcoming grand jury testimony.
After the mayor uses intimidation, threats, assault and, finally, the kidnapping of the Carters' young son, Bill, to keep them from testifying against Bartel, only the boy's grandfather, Ulysses Porterfield, has the courage to testify.
However, Porterfield escapes, rescues Bill, and appears in court as the only cooperating witness, which presumably leads to criminal indictments against Bartel, the mayor and his corrupt organization.