Vera Ralston plays Joan Milna, who shares several thousand acres of valuable Montana timberland with her stepfather (John Alderson). Coveting Joan's property, lumber baron Eric Warren (Ray Collins) sends out his foreman Boyd Caldwell (Rod Cameron) to persuade her to sell. Instead, Caldwell falls in love with the girl, vowing to protect her trees from the eco-unfriendly Warren. Republic's wide-screen Naturama process is shown to good advantage throughout Spoilers of the Forest.
Told in flashback form, the film traces the rise and fall of a tough, ambitious Hollywood producer, Jonathan Shields, as seen through the eyes of various acquaintances, including a writer, James Lee Bartlow; a star, Georgia Lorrison; and a director, Fred Amiel. He is a hard-driving, ambitious man who ruthlessly uses everyone on the way to becoming one of Hollywood's top movie makers.
A revenge-seeking gangster is sent to prison after being framed for a crime he didn't commit. After seducing a beautiful young woman, he uses her to help him carry out his plot for vengeance, leading him to the crazy pyromaniac who set him up.