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Overview
Brief Synopsis
A law professor signs on as special prosecutor to take on the mob.
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Synopsis
Law professor John Lindsay leaves college to begin a sabbatical he dreads. His wife Jerry, however, looks forward to finally having a vacation, and sends John to a movie while she packs. John finds the theater has been hit by a stench bomb, but the manager is afraid to report the crime because it is the result of rival extortion rackets. Eugene Ferguson, a member of the Governor's Civic Committee, suggests John be appointed as special prosecutor to clear the city of racketeers. Ferguson is in cahoots with the racketeers and quickly informs mob heavy, Moss Kitchell, that John can be handled and will keep the G-men at bay. When John learns that all witnesses have been intimidated and refuse to testify, he seeks the books of their companies. Ferguson tells his mistress, Francis "Frankie" Ballou, a newspaper columnist, that the racket will soon be an accepted part of business overhead. Later, Frankie takes John to the Cafe Martin, and as she dances with Kom Cronin, Ferguson's rival, who was to meet John and provide information for the case, Cronin is shot by Eddie Girard, Ferguson's gunman. John loses his appropriation, but now he knows Frankie and Ferguson are guilty. Meanwhile, Jerry persuades extortion victim J. W. Butler to testify, but Eddie kills him first. John suspects that someone on his staff is leaking information, and he fires everyone and hires an entire new staff. After John is asked to resign, he sets up his own investigation. After several criminals are apprehended for following Mrs. Butler, John invites newspaper photographers to watch him beat up the men to prove they are not so tough. Ferguson sends Eddie to shoot John, but he is captured. With citizens protesting the racketeer's continued dominance, the governor forces John to clean up the case in twenty-four hours. All the known crooks are arrested, regardless of the evidence against them, prompting Moss Kitchell to offer to help John. Before Kitchell can inform on the racket, he is found dead, and John's assistant, Paul Ferguson, who is Ferguson's son, is shocked to pick up the telephone next to the body and hear his father's voice. Witnesses finally agree to testify, and John shows Frankie and Ferguson film of Frankie killing Kitchell. John agrees to save Frankie from the chair if she writes her story, but Ferguson is forced to sign a will which leaves his fortune to the Butlers and the investigation. Then, knowing John's car has been sabotaged, Ferguson asks to borrow the keys, and is blown up. With the town cleaned up, and his sabbatical over, John goes back to teaching, leaving Paul to carry on in his place.
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