[1] The newspaperman played by Duryea is similar in tone (a reporter that does anything for publicity for himself regardless of ethics) to Kirk Douglas in Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole (1951).

When big-city newspaper reporter Mike Reese (Duryea) writes and publishes a story (after breaking his promise to withhold it) that results in the murder of a state's witness against a local gang lord, he loses his job.

When a local black woman is suspected (revealed to the audience early as a scapegoat), Reese turns the story into a media circus, and soon his reporting is back in the spotlight again.

He wrote, "It is so poorly made, so haphazard and so full of detectable holes that it carries no impact or conviction, regardless of credibility.

Its main focus is the misuse of the power of the press, with side excursions into racism, class arrogance and the influence of organized crime.