Skip the first 13 mins of newsreel interviews (you don't miss much - watching them later will work better) and we get to a story of entrenched vice and ruthless criminals who seem to squeeze their tentacles around every city institution to ensure their illicit profits keep rolling in! It feels much more realistic than films from the 1940s: the criminals have a more vicious edge, are willing to kill anyone in their way, and seem to run the town with impunity while the local populace is frozen in fear. An idealistic ex-WW II soldier moves back to his hometown with a family in tow and gets embroiled in some of the recent unsavoury goings-on via his old school pals and soon things turn very nasty indeed for everyone concerned. Crime expose docudrama with - some shocking violence and fervent speeches - heartily recommended. 7.5/10.