Based on the real-life lawsuit of journalist Quentin Reynolds against columnist Westbrook Pegler, portraying the courtroom battle where Reynolds sues Pegler for calling him a communist; stars Van Heflin as the lawyer and Jose Ferrer as the bigoted columnist, dramatizing how they slowly trap the writer in his own lies, ultimately leading to a win for Reynolds and highlighting McCarthy-era politics, with the story adapted from Louis Nizer's book My Life in Court.