Bannerline (1951)

With a degree in journalism, Mike Perrivale, a cub reporter at the Carravia Clarion newspaper, Carravia his small hometown, laments the fluff pieces he is assigned to write by the editor, Mr. Stambaugh, instead of the hard news which he would rather cover. The one human interest story he asks and is OKed to write, largely on the urging of his schoolteacher girlfriend Richie Loomis, is a piece on Hugo Trimble, the longtime high school history teacher who is days away from passing away. While he is not much liked, Mr. Trimble's influence on the town is undeniable in most townsfolk having been taught by him in his close to fifty year career. Among the wide range of topics covered in Mike's interview with his former teacher is Mr. Trimble's complaint against the Clarion itself that it has not taken a harder stance against crime boss, Frankie Scarbine, who controls everything in town in one way or another. If being truthful, Stambaugh would admit that he always puts off such a stance against Scarbine in fear of loss of advertising revenue, the majority of those or other potential advertisers controlled by Scarbine. While Mike's story pulls no punches about Mr. Trimble's failure as a teacher, Mr. Trimble's affect on him is evident in wanting to provide him with his dying wishes, even if they are all lies. Mike is ultimately able to convince Stambaugh and the newspaper's editorial staff to print a mock front page only for their and Mr. Trimble's eyes as to all the things that Mr. Trimble would have wanted to see happen in town, most especially reports of investigations into Scarbine's criminal activities. In the entire team patting themselves on the back for a job well done with the mock front page, Mike begins to seriously consider the following: what if that mock front page was the actual front page on the Clarion's next edition?