Val Winter

Made by RKO-Pathe, in Pathe color and three-dimension, in observance of the 150th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase from France at a cost of $15,000,000 (more than the annual income of the U.S.A. at the time). After a short narrative showing U.S. Ambassador Robert Livingston (Val Winter) negotiating the purchase with Napoleon and Tallyrand, the rest of the film, guided by Livingston's spirit, visits the 1953 territory of the purchase and shows the growth of such former outposts as Minneapolis, Minnesota; Des Moines, Iowa; St. Louis, Missouri; Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas, and Little Rock, Arkansas. Most of the footage is given to New Orleans, Louisiana and its Vieux Carre, docks, business district and museums, ending with the preparation for that city's annual Mardi Gras.

One night in the New Orleans slums, vicious hoodlum Blackie and his friends kill an illegal immigrant who won too much in a card game. The next morning, Dr. Clint Reed of the Public Health Service confirms the dead man had pneumonic plague. To prevent a catastrophic epidemic, Clint must find and inoculate the killers and their associates, with the reluctant aid of police captain Tom Warren, despite official skepticism, and in total secrecy, lest panic empties the city. Can a doctor turn detective? He has 48 hours to try.