H. R. Manley (Steve Cochran), publisher of the tabloid Real Truth Magazine knows that circulation is down and that to boost sales, he will need to get a very sensational copy on the newsstand. Telling his reporters that there is something dirty in everyone's past, he encourages them to dig up the dirt on a squeaky-clean person. Manley believes that the cleaner a person is on the outside, the dirtier they are underneath, and furthermore, he believes that he is only giving his readers what they want---juicy, scandalous truth. Manley's mother (Marjorie Rambeau), however, who is ashamed of her son's line of work, relates the gossip magazine to nothing less than the provision of opium, in that people may want it, but it is actually very harmful to them.
Scott Martin (Van Johnson) becomes the "dirt" target. Now a puppeteer who has just recently begun putting his kid-friendly talents to work for a breakfast cereal company, Mr. Martin is an ex-convict. Though he served a 4-year sentence for the crime committed when he was a 19-year old, given his current clean, good-guy, safe-for-kids reputation, the revelation of his past mistake will be a disaster, plus the publicity will be harmful to his wife, Connie (Ann Blyth), and their young son. Though the Martins plead with Manley to not publish the long-dead information, the only way Manley will refrain from doing so is if Scott passes on dirt about Mary Sawyer...a new movie star sensation, with whom he grew up.
Will Scott save his own reputation by ruining that of another? Will Manley listen to reason and come to realize that he is hurting people with his gossip magazine? Will he decide to pull the article about Scott? These are the questions which play out in the balance of this film.
Slander is an interesting, exciting film, and as already stated, is totally relevant to today. With the explosion of the internet, scandalous stories are available 24/7, and we all read them...without ever a thought to the lives which are broken as a result of the ugliness being published. It's too bad this film didn't convince us of the harmful effects of this kind of writing. Steve Cochran is his usual sleazy, nasty self here. Both Van Johnson and Ann Blyth are good and solid in their roles, but I think Marjorie Rambeau, as Cochran's mother, takes the prize. She is fantastic.
While this film is not out on DVD, it is available in its entirety on YouTube. I hope you get a chance to see it.
Happy viewing!!