Banned racer + unstable explosives + stealing two girlfriends = 1943's hottest mess.
Mike Douglas (Barry Sullivan), owner of a nitroglycerin concern hires his old friend "Buzz" Mitchell (Chester Morris), a race-driver of midget-auto cars who has been banned from racing, to go to work hauling nitro. "Buzz" makes a play for Connie Baker (Jean Parker), Mike's secretary and girlfriend, and also for Doris Lynch (Barbara Lynn), fiancée of Connie's younger brother, Jimmy ('Rand Brooks'), and gets Jimmy to replace him on a dangerous nitro haul and Jimmy, of course, has an accident and gets killed. But "Buzz" finds a way to redeem himself. The hard way.
Practical Effects
Pre-CGI explosion sequences that probably terrified the crew.
Acting
Chester Morris commits to being the worst friend imaginable.
Director
Frank McDonald
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'midget-auto' racing ban references real post-war safety crackdowns on dangerous motorsports.
Chester Morris was Columbia's B-picture king; this was one of six films he made in 1943 alone.
US
