Unscrupulous reporter Mike Reese (Dan Duryea) gets blamed for the killing of a co-operating gangster after outing him in a story. The DA gets him fired and no one else is willing to hire him. He turns lemons into lemonade by demanding money from gangster Carl Durham. He uses that money to buy his way into a small town newspaper after lying to the owner Cathy Harris. She has second thoughts and then a big local murder happens in the family of newspaper magnate E. J. Stanton. The black maid Molly Rankin gets blamed.
I find Duryea's character very interesting. He projects a lightness despite the sleaziness of the role. The story gets melodramatically dark. The villain uses a bad n-word. It's all very interesting. I would like a more charismatic Cathy Harris. She needs to be the equal and opposite of Reese. As for Molly Rankin, I expected someone with darker skin. I'm not sure why they used a white actress to play a black role. There could be a thematic reason but it's more likely that there is a racist reason. It would be vastly more effective as a race conflict if she's actually black. Of course, she's the only black character on the screen. It could have been something. It's a missed opportunity. Otherwise, it's a great take down of small town and big newspaper.
I find Duryea's character very interesting. He projects a lightness despite the sleaziness of the role. The story gets melodramatically dark. The villain uses a bad n-word. It's all very interesting. I would like a more charismatic Cathy Harris. She needs to be the equal and opposite of Reese. As for Molly Rankin, I expected someone with darker skin. I'm not sure why they used a white actress to play a black role. There could be a thematic reason but it's more likely that there is a racist reason. It would be vastly more effective as a race conflict if she's actually black. Of course, she's the only black character on the screen. It could have been something. It's a missed opportunity. Otherwise, it's a great take down of small town and big newspaper.