Tough-talking Sherry Conley (Ginger Rogers) is a model who is in prison for a crime she did not knowingly commit. She is offered a deal for her freedom by U.S. attorney, Lloyd Hallett (Edward G. Robinson), if she will testify as a witness in the trial of mobster Benjamin Costain (Lorne Greene). Hallett hides her in a hotel where he tries to convince her to testify in spite of the danger. She is under the protection of a squad of detectives led by Lt. Vince Striker (Brian Keith) and Mrs. Willoughby (Katherine Anderson), Conley's friendly prison matron escort. There she stalls about making a final decision while she enjoys expensive meals from room service. Despite never being alone together in the hotel room, sparks begin to fly between Lt. Striker and Conley.

Through his corrupt inside contacts, Costain finds out where Conley is being kept and sends his thugs to kill her. Conley is shot in the arm and survives the assassination attempt when Striker kills the assailant, but Willoughby is shot and seriously wounded. When Striker leaves the hotel, Costain's men force Striker into a car and bring him to Costain. But it's not an abduction, as Striker is a corrupt policeman who is working for Costain. Costain has learned that Conley is being transferred to the city jail for added protection, and he tells Striker that he will have to kill Conley himself if he does not help to arrange another murder attempt at the hotel. He is told to leave the bathroom window unlocked for Costain's killer.

At the hotel, Hallett attempts to use Conley's selfish unsupportive sister, Clara Moran (Eve McVeagh), to persuade her to testify, but the two sisters only argue and Conley remains uncooperative. Striker inadvertently almost reveals his duplicity to Hallett, but a phone call to Hallett interrupts their conversation and Hallett's train of thought. They learn that Willoughby has died in the hospital. Conley, who liked and respected Willoughby, becomes angry about her death and agrees to testify against Costain. Striker, who cares for Conley, tries to dissuade her but can't, and reluctantly proceeds with the plan to have her killed. Moments before the murderer arrives, Hallett returns to escort Conley to the city jail from which she is to be taken to the courtroom to enter her testimony. While she is changing her clothes in the bedroom, Hallett chats with Striker, and the attorney's banter brings the jumpy Striker to a breaking point. He abruptly kicks open the bedroom door, shoots the killer and saves Conley at the cost of his own life. The unlocked window tells Conley and Hallett that he had set up her murder but at the last moment changed his mind.

Conley takes the stand at Costain's trial, giving her occupation as "gang buster".

A 1955 American Black & White film-noir crime film (a/k/a " Dead Pigeon") directed by Phil Karlson, produced by Lewis J. Rachmil, screenplay by William Bowers, based on Lenard Kantor's play "Dead Pigeon" (1953), cinematography by Burnett Guffey, starring Ginger Rogers, Edward G. Robinson, Brian Keith, Lucy Marlow, Lorne Greene, Katherine Anderson, Allen Nourse, Peter Leeds, Doye O'Dell, and Eve McVeagh.

Ginger Rogers was over a decade older than Brian Keith.

Lorne Green played some mean villains before he became the benevolent dad on TV's "Bonanza".

Edward G. Robinson's career was in a downswing because of his own testimony as a friendly witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee, despite being one of Hollywood's most notable liberals. Oddly enough, it was the conservative Cecil B. DeMille who restarted Robinson's career by casting him as Dathan in "The Ten Commandments" (1956).

Based on the play "Dead Pigeon" that opened on Broadway in New York City on 23 December 1953 at the Vanderbilt Theatre, 148 W. 48th St. and ran for 21 performances. It featured only three characters. People referred to but not seen in the play such as the DA were added.

The story was inspired by then prominent U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver's strong-arm tactics in coercing Virginia Hill to testify in the infamous Bugsy Siegel organized crime prosecution. The Democratic senator from Tennessee attracted national attention with the new medium of televised investigation hearings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The next year saw Kefauver as the Vice Presidential nominee with former Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson II for the Democrats in the 1956 election against Republican incumbent 34th president Dwight D. Eisenhower and his running mate Richard M. Nixon, who were reelected.

The Staten Island Ferry boat seen at the beginning of the film was the "Verrazzano" commissioned in 1952. It could carry nearly 3,000 passengers and 24 cars. It was sold and scrapped in the 1980s.

Ginger Rogers gives one of her best performances here, gutsy, strong and sexy. Nice film, tightly edited, not a wasted frame in it. A rough little noir with action, twists, a grand finale, and a fine cast makes this a worthwhile experience.