Scripted by blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo, director Byron Haskin's hard-hitting drama charts the rise and fall of Matt Brady (John Payne), a World War I veteran who returns home and becomes a local ward boss, building a powerful, if corrupt, political empire. But, predictably, wealth and influence don't bring happiness, and Brady's blind ambition, bitterness and belligerence eventually bring about his undoing.