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Munitions worker Barry Kane is falsely accused
of setting fire to the Stuarts Aircraft Factory in Los Angeles, a fire that
caused the death of his best friend, Ken Mason. Barry realizes that
the real saboteur is Frank Fry, the man who handed him a fire extinguisher,
which turned out to be full of gasoline. Remembering that Fry had an
envelope addressed to him from the Deep Springs Ranch in Springfield,
California, Barry goes there to find the killer, but the ranch's owner,
Charles Tobin, tells him that he does not know Fry. Tobin's
granddaughter, however, hands Barry a telegram addressed to Tobin from Fry
stating that Fry is going to Soda City.
Although Tobin has Barry arrested, Barry manages
to escape from the police by jumping off a bridge. He then seeks refugee
from a rainstorm in the home of blind composer Philip Martin. His
sanctuary is invaded by the arrival of Martin's niece, New York model
Patricia Martin and, though Philip senses Barry's innocence, Pat attempts to
turn him over to the police. The fugitive is then forced to abduct her
and, when their car breaks down in the California desert, Barry and Pat
hitch a ride with a circus troupe.
Later, they arrive in the ghost town of Soda
City which, they discover, is the hideout of saboteurs Freeman and Neilson.
Barry is able to convince the killers that he is one of them, so Freeman
offers him safe passage to New York City. Pat is convinced of Barry's
duplicity as well, so she goes to the police.
Once in New York, Freeman takes Barry to the
mansion of society woman Mrs. Henrietta Sutton, where Pat is now being held
by the saboteurs. Tobin then arrives and declares that his operation
has been exposed by Pat's uncle and that Barry is not a part of their
operation. As the fifth columnists discuss their plans to kill Barry
and Pat, the two sneak into Mrs. Sutton's society ball. After Pat is
snatched away from him, however, Barry is forced to turn himself over to
Tobin.
The next day, the saboteurs, posing as newsreel
photographers, plot to blow up the battleship U.S.S. Alaska during
its christening at the Brooklyn naval yards. Barry manages to escape
from the Sutton mansion by setting off the fire alarm, and he stops Fry and
the other saboteurs from blowing up the battleship, though the dock itself
is destroyed. The saboteurs then take Barry back to their skyscraper
hideout, where the police await them, as Pat had managed to escape, herself,
and get help. Fry escapes to a nearby movie theater, but Barry is
unable to convince the police to go after him, so Pat follows the saboteur
to the Statue of Liberty. There, she calls the FBI and they rush to
the monument with Barry. Barry chases Fry to the statue's torch, where the
saboteur slips into the statue's hand and clings desperately to the giant
palm. Barry tries to save him, but when the hem of Fry's jacket sleeve
tears, the murderer is sent plunging to his death.
American Film Institute
Catalog
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