An opportunist photographer, Jack Early (Howard Duff), blackmails("shakes down") two rival gangsters, in the process capturing thephotograph of his career: a perfect picture of death. "An intelligent,original variation on the crime/business metaphor: (Duff's) entrepreneurial newsphotographer (is) one of the most rigorous monsters of instrumental reason inAmerican movies." (TA, NB) "Shakedown is not a pejorative depiction ofthe newspaper business as was the 1930 classic Five Star Final or any of theversions of The Front Page. It is an indictment of the American drive for successand the extent to which ambition leads Jack Early to misuse the tremendous powergiven to him by the press." (Silver & Ward, Film Noir)