A power struggle ensues after the death of media magnate Amos Kyne, whose corporation has been turned over to his sole heir, his foppish son Walter. Rather than run the company himself, Walter decides to let the heads of its three divisions fight it out for control. Their assignment is to score an exclusive on a serial killer who is terrorizing women in New York. The Kyne organization's newspaper dubs him The Lipstick Killer. If a resourceful someone can identify him even before the police do, Walter Kyne will reward him with the title of executive director. One of the three, newspaper editor John Day Griffith, has an ally in high-profile reporter Edward Mobley, who also does reports on Kyne's television network. While wire-service chief Mark Loving recruits star writer Mildred Donner to be his eyes and ears, a third contender for the top job, Harry Kritzer, carries on a secret affair with Dorothy, who is Walter Kyne's wife....
卡司强大，对白也很搞笑，就是逻辑有点乱，男主追凶追进地铁站这段不真实
朗所做的只是为了叙事服务而已 但如若仔细看的话 则会发现朗对于电影的理解 完全由动作，行为构成的电影 一直在运动，从未停歇 当然对于新闻事业实事求是的歌颂与赞美 还是稚嫩了些
弗里茨朗的晚年作品，目前看来有被低估之嫌。开头的入室行凶与结尾地铁站追逐战的镜头无疑是一流的，之后的故事情节却并没有一直沿着探案进行，反而画风一转到新闻行业中四个媒体人的明争暗斗。歌颂的是追求真相不慕名利的媒体人精神，也是顺带讽刺了靠老板女人上位和争名夺利不择手段的行为。这一段剧情和寻凶贴合的比较生硬，并且主角的人物塑造也是光伟正，可能就是这里才不受观众待见。弗里兹朗也常在一些细节上加入一些戏耍观...
媒体那条线一开始是画龙点睛，渐渐成了画蛇添足，温吞得不得了，仅靠一场绝佳追逐戏怎么救得了。这媒体与凶杀的话题表现得太扁平了，Vincent Price还是挺有趣
夜澜人未静翻译的真好
