Jack Early makes a startling career by time and time again getting the perfect picture at the right moment - how does he do it? There are several who suspect something, there is something uneasy and creepy about him, he is too good to be true, his ambitions seem to get him anywhere, and nothing seems to stop him, but it is rather the other way around - he stops at nothing. This is a blood-curdling horror story of opportunism, and yet you can't hate him, as little as his two ladies can anything but love him, but they all seem to be waiting for the moment of his showdown. Fortunately there are two good people here, his editor who sees him through, the only one to do it, and who will rather quit than keep him on the job, and the other one is Brian Donleavy as Nick Palmer, married to Anne Vernon, who really loves him and who also ultimately gets the truth about Jack Early. The script is too brilliant to be true, and yet it is totally realistic, this is how a ruthless paparazzo works, although it would not become universally evident until decades later. Peggy Dow is wonderful as Ellen, another good relief to the horror story, while Bruce Bennett as the editor is the one here to reconcile you with the journalist's profession. You will stick to this film to the bitter end and perhaps wallow in its constant increasing unpleasantness, waiting like all the actors for the ultimate crisis to bring the curtain down - with an ultimate triumph of unexpected journalism.
