Synopsis (contains spoilers): When promising surgeon Dr. Joe Bradley is assigned to ambulance duty by his future father-in-law, Dr. Averill, he is met with scorn and suspicion by his fellow physicians and his ambulance driver, Steve Brennan. Soon, however, Joe impresses the emergency team with his sincerity and skills and becomes close friends with Steve, whose years of experience make him a tough but wise teacher. After Steve is fired by Averill for accusing Sammie Miller, an "emergency call" patient, of faking an automobile accident as part of a mobster scam, Joe intercedes on his behalf and later confronts Averill when he discovers that some of the patient's confidential medical reports have been leaked to ambulance-chasing lawyers who are on gangster Tom Rourke's payroll. Although Averill denies complicity with Rourke, Joe quickly learns that the hospital head, who was "helped" by Rourke when he was a struggling medical student, has indeed been supplying Rourke with information. Disillusioned, Joe decides to quit his post but is convinced to stay and fight by Steve, who is then stabbed in the back by Miller during a phony emergency call. Although Joe fights the gangsters and is rescued by police, Steve dies unexpectedly on the operating table. At first baffled by Steve's death, Joe soon deduces that the ether he used came from a supply of defective, deadly army ether that Averill had bought from Rourke. After nurse Mabel Weenie, Steve's fiancée, swears revenge on Rourke, Joe confronts Averill with his deed and has his skull crushed by Rourke as he storms out of Averill's office. A remorseful Averill saves Joe from the killer ether and is shot by Rourke, who is then shot and killed by Mabel.
Producer: Merian C. Cooper
Associate Producer: Sam Jaffe
Director: Edward L. Cahn
Screenplay: Houston Branch and Joseph L. Mankiewicz (based on a story by John B. Clymer and James Ewens)
Cinematography: J. Roy Hunt
Music: Roy Webb
Film Editing: Daniel Mandell
Costume Design: Walter Plunkett
Art Department: Alfred Herman and Van Nest Polglase (settings)
Cast: William Boyd (Joe Bradley), Wynne Gibson (Mabel Weenie), William Gargan (Steve Brennan), George E. Stone (Sammie Miller), Betty Furness (Alice Averill), Reginald Mason (Dr. Averill).
BW-65m.
