Car chases and flamboyant steam railroad train robberies spark this violent, action-packed '30s hour. For contrast, Star Ken Howard's detective Dave Barrett, is the quiet, laconic type in the thick of the fray, who's about to silence Ma Gantry (Ida Lupino) and her vicious gang.

A Federal officer, blinded during a raid on a gang hideout, asks Dave Barrett to be his 'eyes' in a dangerous pursuit of the wily gang leader, following the trail of murderous gangster Tom Baily. Barrett and the blind officer, Jeff Donnenfield, narrowly escape with their lives from a trap Baily sets.

Fearing for the life of his gangster son, an elderly farmer hires Barrett to find the boy before the police can capture him.