" A scrapbook on a desk contained clippings of reports of the town""s missing children, and told of a search for the alleged killer, Freddy Krueger, who had mutilated or slaughtered them.but a second scalding occurs on-screen, and two women are shot to death in full view.There are other less violent crudities as well, e.g., an obscene phone call, and a cigarette burning a bar-fly""s hand.] This film lacked Academy Award nominations.Plot SynopsisAll the major characters are economically introduced in a few minutes within the tightly condensed narrative.] The luggish, huge, brutish ex-con Malloy wanted to hire Marlowe for a job to find a missing long-lost love interest - although the detective brushed off the urgency of the client and suggested coming back the following day.However, he had been fired almost a dozen times from previous publications:Tatum: Mr.Boot, I""m a $250-a-week newspaperman.I can be had for $50.Boot: Why are you so good to me?Tatum: I know newspapers backward, forward and sideways.I can write ""em, edit ""em, print ""em, wrap ""em and sell ""em.Boot: Don""t need anybody right now.Tatum (without pausing):I can handle big news and little news.And if there""s no news, I""ll go out and bite a dog.Make it $45.Boot: What makes you so cheap?Tatum: A fair question, considering I""ve been op man wherever I""ve worked.