Plot: Hispanic Mike Vargas and his Caucasian bride Susie Vargas, a Mexican and American citizen respectively, have just crossed the relatively open Mexico-US border into the States. Mike is relatively well known on both sides of the border, he a high ranking Mexican government official tasked largely with cleaning up the illicit drug trade. Almost immediately after they enter the States, a car which had also just entered the country and which Mike and Susie had passed many times in crossing the border, explodes, killing the driver, local American businessman Rudy Linnekar, and his unknown female passenger. Because of the cross-border implications of the case with the bomb most likely planted in Mexico, Mike decides that he should assist in the investigation, leaving Susie at an isolated motel in the meantime. Leading the investigation is the town's police captain, grizzled and gimp legged Hank Quinlan, a man known to get the criminals and known to work off his gut. Quinlan's high regard is despite being an alcoholic, his favorite watering hole which used to be a cantina brothel on the Mexican side operated by a madam named Tana who is also an amateur fortune teller. His drinking is apparently under control. In this case, Quinlan's gut tells him that the person who killed Linnekar is a Mexican national named Manelo Sanchez, who is secretly associated with Linnekar's daughter, Marcia Linnekar. The American officials and Mike take the opportunity of the relatively open border to conduct their investigation on both sides. Quinlan discovers hard evidence that Sanchez is indeed the murderer. However, Mike questions Quinlan's findings, in the process questioning what has been his highly respected and successful career in law enforcement. Quinlan will seemingly go to any length to protect his good name and integrity. Thrown into the mix is a local resident named Joe Grandi, who is out for Mike because one of the people Mike is investigating is Grandi's brother. In these many battles, Susie may be more than acceptable collateral damage for Quinlan and Grandi, with the Linnekar case lost in the shuffle.
Alternative Plot: When a car bomb explodes on the American side of the U.S./Mexico border, Mexican drug enforcement agent Miguel Vargas (Charlton Heston) begins his investigation, along with American police captain Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles). When Vargas begins to suspect that Quinlan and his shady partner, Menzies (Joseph Calleia), are planting evidence to frame an innocent man, his investigations into their possible corruption quickly put himself and his new bride, Susie (Janet Leigh), in jeopardy.
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