Scandal Sheet

Entertaining noir directed by Phil Karlson, who also did the excellent Kansas City Confidential the same year, and based on a novel by Sam Fuller (and the film can be found in a box set of Fuller films Columbia released a while back). Broderick Crawford stars as the editor-in-chief of a scandal sheet. He runs into an ex-wife whom he dumped years earlier, before changing his name and climbing to his current position. The woman wants to spoil his success, so he kills her. Of course, such a sensational and mysterious murder is just the kind of thing his newspaper covers, and the story, much to Crawford's chagrin, makes his paper more popular than ever. Reporters Donna Reed and John Derek are getting closer and closer to the truth, and Crawford, though he tries to throw them off his scent, is basically trapped by his position. Henry O'Neill is also excellent as the broken-down drunk who first uncovers the secret.