- What is news? It's a simple-sounding question that is impossible to answer definitively. Must it be a strictly dispassionate accounting of global and local events? Should news include human interest stories? What about lurid descriptions of murder victims and crime scenes? Should I even mention the so-called entertainment news? The fact is, the working definitions of news have changed dramatically over the years, although they usually seem related to the fundamental issue of increasing the readership. As newspaper editor Mark Chapman (Broderick Crawford) explains in Scandal Sheet, he's in the "business of satisfying the hunger of the public for thrills, escape, and news." If that means publishing stories about the "Gorilla Man-Slayer" or the upcoming "Lonely Hearts Ball," then so be it.
- While attending that Lonely Hearts Ball as its primary sponsor, Mark is approached by a woman named Charlotte Grant (Rosemary DeCamp). Mrs. Grant remembers Mark from before he was a big newspaper editor, back when he used to be her husband. In fact, Mark's exit from that relationship was such that he is still legally her husband, which is exactly the sort of story that his newspaper would love to print. The only thing more sordid would be if he killed her, which he accidentally does in the middle of a violent shoving match. Now, Mark has to find a way to keep his own shocking story away from his devoted protégé Steve McCleary (John Derek) and intrepid reporter Julie Allison (Donna Reed).
- Although the direction by Phil Karlson is fine, one could imagine a more compelling version of Scandal Sheet resulting if it had instead been directed by Samuel Fuller, on whose novel the movie is based. Fortunately, the same characteristics that made Willie Stark so memorable in All the King's Men translate well to the character of Mark Chapman, enabling Crawford to elevate the picture considerably. Reed channels the charming decency that worked well for her TV career, while Derek is so unlikeable that one wonders if he still resents being Willie Stark's son. Harry Morgan and Henry O'Neill add some flavor to the proceedings, but Crawford is the real story here.
