Plot

In a California resort community, the wealthy Michael Reston is charged with the murder of a man he claimed attacked his wife, Charleen.

Reston hires a high-priced lawyer, James Gordon Blane, a man known to do anything it takes to win a case. Blane makes few friends in the community because the victim was a popular figure while the Restons are not. But his skillful cross-examination of a sheriff, Nick Hoak, results in Blane's client being found not guilty.

Hoak decides to get even. He claims to have evidence that Blane bribed a woman on the jury. Now it is Blane who goes on trial, with only his estranged wife, Diane, coming to his aid. While defending himself, Blane begins to feel remorse over having won acquittals for so many guilty clients.

Blane ultimately is vindicated when the juror, Carol Morrow, turns out to be romantically involved with Hoak, the sheriff. Morrow gets some revenge of her own as the Blanes reconcile and leave town for good.

Cast

• Jeff Chandler
  Jeff Chandler (actor)
  Jeff Chandler was an American film actor and singer in the 1950s.-Early life:Chandler was born Ira Grossel to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Anna and Phillip Grossel. He attended Erasmus Hall High School, the alma mater of many stage and film personalities...
  
   as James Gordon Blane
• Jeanne Crain
  Jeanne Crain
  Jeanne Elizabeth Crain was an American actress.-Early life:Crain was born in Barstow, California, to George A. Crain, a school teacher, and Loretta Carr; she was of Irish heritage on her mother's side, and of English and distant French descent on her father's...
  
   as Diane Blane
• Jack Carson
  Jack Carson
  John Elmer "Jack" Carson was a Canadian-born U.S.-based film actor.Jack Carson was one of the most popular character actors during the 'golden age of Hollywood', with a film career spanning the 1930s, '40s and '50s...
  
   as Sheriff Hoak
• Gail Russell
  Gail Russell
  Gail Russell was an American film and television actress.-Career:She was born Elizabeth L. Russell to George and Gladys Russell in Chicago, Illinois, and then moved to the Los Angeles, California, area when she was a teenager. Russell's extraordinary beauty brought her to the attention of...
  
   as Carol Morrow
• Philip Reed
  Philip Reed
  Philip Reed was a United States Senator representing Maryland from 1806 to 1813.Born near Chestertown, Maryland, in 1760, Reed completed preparatory studies and served with the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, attaining the rank of captain of infantry...
  
  as Michael Reston