故事发生在充满了异域风情的马来西亚,莱斯利(贝蒂·戴维斯 Bette Davis 饰)在那里和丈夫罗伯特(赫伯特·马歇尔 Herbert Marshall 饰)一起经营着一间橡胶种植园,日子过得十分安逸。某天,罗伯特外出公干,留下莱斯利一人看家,哪知道很快,便传来了噩耗,莱斯利开枪将一个名叫大卫的男人给打死了,而莱斯利坚称大卫想要袭击她,她开枪杀人纯属自卫。
罗伯特相信了莱斯利所言,找到了律师霍华德(詹姆斯·斯蒂芬森 James Stephenson 饰)为妻子辩护,可是,让他们没有想到的是,大卫的妻子哈蒙德太太(盖尔·桑德加德 Gale Sondergaard 饰)手上握有莱斯利和大卫偷情的证据。
After the corrupt former Mayor is killed by the peasants, poor janitor Juan Vargas is appointed new Mayor of a desert town in central Mexico. Although he tries to bring the motto of the ruling party to town (modernity, peace and progress) he realizes soon that there's nothing to do against corruption... except to become corrupt. Step by step, helped by his pistol, Juan Vargas becomes the law and the worst Major in the town's history.
故事讲述墨西哥农民杀死腐败的前市长后,不幸的看门人阿瓦尔加斯在墨西哥中部被任命为一个沙漠镇的新市长,他努力提倡执政党的新意识,到任不久就立下反对腐败的座右铭,但反对也开始变得腐败,一步步在他的枪手帮助下,阿瓦尔加斯成为法郎和镇上历史最恶劣的一页。