Howard Duff (Early) plays an unpleasantly ambitious photographer who continually turns up at the right time to make sure he gets the unique picture that everyone wants to buy. He treats everyone with disrespect and has no morals whatsoever. He is guided by his values of greed and self-interest. Well, he gets what he deserves.
It's a strange film in that it is entertaining and I'm going to keep onto it despite the lead man being thoroughly unpleasant. Newspaper editor Bruce Bennett (David) sums things up perfectly for everybody when he says "I don't like him". Yep, no-one does. He reminds me of a typical John Garfield type or Humphrey Bogart. They are solely out for themselves and not particularly relatable or pleasant. God knows why Peggy Dow (Ellen) takes an interest in him. It is just not believable. Duff is a horrible man and he fixates on gangster moll Ann Vernon (Mrs Palmer).
The rest of the cast are good and you root for the rival gangsters Brian Donlevy (Palmer) and Lawrence Tierney (Colton) to reset the power balance against this egomaniac photographer. The moral of the story is good - don't be like Duff!