Edward G. Robinson stars as the ruthless newspaper editor who will go to any length, use any means--and destroy anyone--to get a paper-selling headline for the Five Star Final. Facing declining circulation, Joseph Randall (Robinson--Double Indemnity) decides to dig up a 20-year-old killing. He sends reporter Vernon Isopod (Boris Karloff--Frankenstein, The Mummy) undercover as a clergyman to get a photograph of Nancy Townsend (Frances Starr) as she prepares for her daughter's (Marian Marsh) wedding. Now a pillar of society, Townsend shot her lover two decades ago. And when Randall publishes the current photo of Townsend with the lurid photos and story of the shooting, Townsend commits suicide and her daughter's fiancé's family tries to call off the wedding. But even after he destroys so many lives in his quest for newspaper sales, will Randall feel remorse for the damage he has caused?