A southern town is rocked by scandal when teenager Mary Clay is murdered on Confederate Decoration Day. Andrew Griffin, a small-time lawyer with political ambitions, sees the crime as his ticket to the Senate if he can find the right victim to finger for the crime. He sets out to convict Robert Hale, a transplanted northerner who was Mary's teacher at the business school where she was killed. Despite the fact that all the evidence against Hale is circumstantial, Griffin works with a ruthless reporter to create a media frenzy of prejudice and hate against the teacher.
| Directing | Mervyn LeRoy | Director |
| Writing | Ward Greene | Novel |
| Writing | Robert Rossen | Screenplay |
| Writing | Aben Kandel | Screenplay |
| Sound | Adolph Deutsch | Original Music Composer |
| Camera | Arthur Edeson | Director of Photography |
| Costume & Make-Up | N'was McKenzie | Costume Design |
| Art | Robert M. Haas | Art Direction |
| Production | Jack L. Warner | Executive Producer |
| Costume & Make-Up | Helen Turpin | Hairstylist |
| Editing | Thomas Richards | Editor |
| Costume & Make-Up | Al Bonner | Makeup Artist |
