Factory worker Barry Kane (Robert Cummings) finds himself branded an industrial saboteur after a fire breaks out in the workplace. The extinguisher he handed to his colleague and best friend itself burst into flame, and Kane is now on the run, determined to find the real culprit and so prove his innocence. The only person who believes his story is Patricia Martin (Priscilla Lane), who aids him in his flight from the authorities. Alfred Hitchcock's suspenseful chase film, a contribution to America's wartime propaganda, can be seen as a precursor to his later success 'North by Northwest'.