| Director | Roy Rowland |
|---|---|
| Budget | $926,000 |
| Box office | $745,000 |
Ruthless scandal magazine editor and publisher H. R. Manley of the tabloid publication The Real Truth has earned a fortune by publishing tawdry, but true, stories that have ruined many lives. His elderly mother is appalled at his methods and greed. Despite his success, Manley owes $100,000 to the magazine's printer and craves a hot topic to stimulate sales, and he decides to pursue a scandalous story about movie star Mary Sawyer. Following a lead, Manley discovers that Sawyer has a damaging secret from her past known to no one but her longtime friend Scott Martin.
Scott is a puppeteer who has just started a very successful children's television show after years of struggling to make ends meet for his wife Connie and their young son Joey. Manley discovers that Scott once served four years in prison for an armed robbery, a secret unknown to the general public. Manley confronts Connie with a preview of the exposé article with all of the details of Scott's crime and a large image of Scott in prison garb. Connie, who is aware of her husband's past, explains why the crime occurred, but Manley is unmoved. He threatens to publish the article unless Scott provides information about Sawyer's secret in time for the magazine's next edition.
Connie informs Scott and his agent Seth about Manley's demand and implores him to divulge Sawyer's secret and preserve his nascent television career in the interest of supporting his family. Scott, realizing that the publication of his secret will destroy his career, wavers before flatly refusing to betray Sawyer, and Connie leaves him. Manley proceeds to publish Scott's secret and a public outcry ensues. Scott's show's sponsor, wishing to distance itself from the scandal, drops him. At school, when Joey is mercilessly taunted, he runs into the street to escape his tormentors and is struck by a car and killed.
Manley's mother visits Connie to confirm her son's connection with Joey's death. Scott is invited to appear on a television show in which he delivers a moving appeal to viewers about his son's death and the poisonous publication that caused the event. Watching the program with his mother, Manley phones a colleague to hurry to increase distribution of his next issue, believing that Scott's public rebuke will provide a great boost for the magazine's sales. His disgusted mother removes a revolver from a desk drawer and shoots him dead.
Seth informs Scott that his televised speech has triggered public outrage about the magazine and its brand of shady journalism, but Scott is skeptical that it will bring about any lasting changes.