A serial killer is on the loose leaving the words "Ask Mother" at a crime scene. Sickly media mogul Amos Kyne is taken with the story calling the killer "The Lipstick Killer". Amos dies leaving the company in the hands of his feckless son Walter Kyne (Vincent Price) who assigns the story to the various heads of the media conglomerate. He creates a new title Executive Director to run the whole corporation for him pitting his news teams against each other for the scoop. Mark Loving runs the Kyne news wire service and recruits gossip columnist Mildred Donner (Ida Lupino). On the other team, Jon Day Griffith runs the newspaper New York Sentinel. Edward Mobley (Dana Andrews) is the star TV reporter dating Loving's secretary Nancy Liggett. Mobley insults the killer on the air while announcing his engagement to Nancy to lure the killer out.
For me, there is simply too much going on. The movie starts with a serial killer and I assumed this is a crime drama. Then the newspaper politics and intrigue begin. It's sometimes fun. It's sometimes chaotic. The portrayal of the killer as he listened to Mobley is disappointing. He's not threatening. He's not scary. I would have been more interested in the inter-corporate rivalries if they're not talking about a serial killer. The seriousness of the murders don't match the chaotic fun of the news rivals.
For me, there is simply too much going on. The movie starts with a serial killer and I assumed this is a crime drama. Then the newspaper politics and intrigue begin. It's sometimes fun. It's sometimes chaotic. The portrayal of the killer as he listened to Mobley is disappointing. He's not threatening. He's not scary. I would have been more interested in the inter-corporate rivalries if they're not talking about a serial killer. The seriousness of the murders don't match the chaotic fun of the news rivals.