Ace reporter Joan Blondell drives through the night and breaks some rules to get the story on the big train wreck. Back at the paper, she expects kudos--but boss Pat O'Brien does nothing but complain. Blondell is insulted, O'Brien insists that he appreciates her work, and they get all lovey-dovey for about two seconds...and then O'Brien tells her that she looks tired and she stomps out of his office, slamming the door and breaking the glass.
Both stars are energetic and talk fast but the characterizations are not subtle in this noisy newspaper drama. O'Brien is exceedingly bossy and unpleasant as the demanding editor; Blondell is just not believable as the hardboiled reporter who for some reason has a soft spot for her crabby boss.
The plot involves a murder investigation by Blondell and the paper. Having received an anonymous tip, Blondell stops a funeral and convinces the coroner to do an autopsy. Sure enough, the guy was poisoned. Could the murderer have been Margaret Lindsay, the beautiful widow? John Litel, the doctor who attributed the death to a heart attack? The paper pushes hard for Lindsay's indictment for the murder but just when it's almost too late, Blondell starts feeling guilty and wonders if Lindsay is innocent after all....
An interesting cast includes Regis Toomey, Eddie Acuff, and George E. Stone as various newspaper employees. Ben Welden plays a casino owner who, in one of the picture's many ridiculous sequences, visits O'Brien's office to help identify a suspect and then is held at gunpoint by O'Brien to prevent him leaving and talking to other papers' reporters.
A fast paced newspaper drama with these stars sounds like great fun. Unfortunately, the obnoxious characters and poor plot pretty much sink it.
Both stars are energetic and talk fast but the characterizations are not subtle in this noisy newspaper drama. O'Brien is exceedingly bossy and unpleasant as the demanding editor; Blondell is just not believable as the hardboiled reporter who for some reason has a soft spot for her crabby boss.
The plot involves a murder investigation by Blondell and the paper. Having received an anonymous tip, Blondell stops a funeral and convinces the coroner to do an autopsy. Sure enough, the guy was poisoned. Could the murderer have been Margaret Lindsay, the beautiful widow? John Litel, the doctor who attributed the death to a heart attack? The paper pushes hard for Lindsay's indictment for the murder but just when it's almost too late, Blondell starts feeling guilty and wonders if Lindsay is innocent after all....
An interesting cast includes Regis Toomey, Eddie Acuff, and George E. Stone as various newspaper employees. Ben Welden plays a casino owner who, in one of the picture's many ridiculous sequences, visits O'Brien's office to help identify a suspect and then is held at gunpoint by O'Brien to prevent him leaving and talking to other papers' reporters.
A fast paced newspaper drama with these stars sounds like great fun. Unfortunately, the obnoxious characters and poor plot pretty much sink it.