Marking the final directorial effort of Lewis Seiler, it dramatizes the true story of a young Santa Ana, California, housewife who became a volunteer undercover narcotics agent in the 1950s.

The woman, known publicly only by the pseudonym Lynn Stuart to protect her from possible reprisals, served in that capacity for six years and provided information which ultimately led to approximately 30 drug-related convictions.

The film then opens with a police car chase through Orange County, California, which ends with the fleeing vehicle crashing, killing both of its occupants.

At a hearing, one of the boys' aunt, an attractive young mother and housewife named Phyllis Carter (Betsy Palmer), angrily denounces police efforts to control the flow of illegal narcotics.

Phyllis Carter is provided with a new identity: Lynn Stuart, an ex-convict from West Virginia who had served 18 months in prison for her part in a bank robbery.

[1] In the film, the death of her nephew serves as the catalyst for her offer to go undercover; in reality, she cited only the fear that the drug trade might negatively affect her own sons when they became teenagers.

[2] The True Story of Lynn Stuart marked the first feature film appearance by later television star Gavin MacLeod, who had a small, uncredited role as a member of the drug gang.