Crooked private investigator Malone (E.Alyn Warren) gives Jack Kirkland
(Wallace Ford) a choice, either go to prison for a crime he didn't commit,
or pose as murdered John Prescott and inherit a sizeable fortune (which he
has to split with Malone of course, but it would still be sizeable). Not
wanting to go to prison, Jack understandably chooses the latter, even
though he hates being a liar. At the Prescott estate, he quickly falls in
love with Prescott's half-sister Diane (Finis Barton), and she with him as
well, but troubles are brewing when Prescott's wife Fay (Lillian Miles)
and her lover Don (Leon Ames) arrive at the place as well. You see, they
have murdered the real Prescott, but having found out that a fake one is
going to inherit the Prescott-fortune now, they figure they'll blackmail
the fake Prescott. Malone however thinks he has a handle on them, since he
can prove they have murdered the actual Prescott, but when he threatens
them, they kill him as well. Jack meanwhile admits to Diane he's a fraud
but very much in love with her, and he bids her farewell figuring it's
prison for him now - but then Fay and Don take him hostage ... but he can
force them into an accident (car over a cliff) that kills them both while
he ends in the arms of Diane, and with Malone dead, there's noone who
could send him back to prison ... Clichéed crime melodrama
that draws a line between good and evil that's just a little too distinct
to remain believable (let alone serve the film's story) while telling a
story to cheesy to create much suspense or tension. Add to that an
impersonal directorial effort and an at best average cast, and you are
left with ... surely not the worst film you have ever seen, but also not
something you really need to see.
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