媒体巨头阿莫斯·凯恩去世后，权力斗争随之而来。他的公司被移交给他唯一的继承人，他那浮华的儿子沃尔特。沃尔特决定不亲自经营公司，而是让三个部门的负责人争夺控制权。他们的任务是独家报道一名在纽约恐吓妇女的连环杀手。凯恩组织的报纸称他为“口红杀手”。如果一个足智多谋的人能在警方之前认出他，沃尔特·凯恩就会授予他执行董事的头衔。三人之一，报纸编辑约翰·戴·格里菲斯，与知名记者爱德华·莫布利是盟友，后者也在凯恩的电视网络上做报道。通讯社负责人马克·洛文招募明星作家米尔德丽德·唐纳作为他的耳目，而第三位争夺最高职位的候选人哈里·克里泽与沃尔特·凯恩的妻子多萝西有一段秘密恋情……A power struggle ensues after the death of media magnate Amos Kyne, whose corporation has been turned over to his sole heir, his foppish son Walter. Rather than run the company himself, Walter decides to let the heads of its three divisions fight it out for control. Their assignment is to score an exclusive on a serial killer who is terrorizing women in New York. The Kyne organization's newspaper dubs him "The Lipstick Killer." If a resourceful someone can identify him even before the police do, Walter Kyne will reward him with the title of executive director. One of the three, newspaper editor John Day Griffith, has an ally in high-profile reporter Edward Mobley, who also does reports on Kyne's television network. While wire-service chief Mark Loving recruits star writer Mildred Donner to be his eyes and ears, a third contender for the top job, Harry Kritzer, carries on a secret affair with Dorothy, who is Walter Kyne's wife....
