Out of work newspaper reporter Bill Partain is on his honeymoon when he reads about a bank robbery in Sedalia, Missouri, pulled off by notorious criminal Tom Ellis and his gang. Having once interviewed Ellis's girlfriend Ruth Childers for a Kansas City, Missouri, paper, Partain convinces himself an exclusive interview with Ellis will help him land a new job.
Lying to his new wife Irene about where they are going, Bill drives them to a small Ozarks town where he believes Ruth is living. Townspeople are reluctant to help Bill locate her, and deputy Lou Follett warns him that almost everyone in the community considers him one of them and will protect him - even to very extreme lengths.
Bill finally finds Ruth, who remembers him favorably. She manages to arrange his being taken to Ellis by a young man named Kermit, who is close to the gang, and sometimes works for Ellis.
Ellis grants Bill an interview, boasting of his crimes, to the consternation of off-balance gunman Elly Horn, who suddenly shoots both Ellis and Kermit. He also shoots his own gang member, Oren, by accident trying to kill Bill.
Irene, left behind, is desperate to find her husband, who is now being held by Oren and Elly for a ransom of $50,000. She gets the address from Ruth, hitchhikes to Ellis's hideout, and notifies the police, who arrive just in time to rescue Bill.
According to MGM records, the film earned $250,000 in the U.S. and Canada and $250,000 in other markets, resulting in a loss to the studio of $110,000.[1]
References
1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
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