The Big Operator 1959

Ruthless union leader Little Joe Braun is due to face questioning from a Senate committee. On the night before the inquiry, he sends a hit man, Oscar Wetzel “The Executioner,” to kill a witness named Tragg and steal incriminating documents in Tragg’s possession at a factory.

The union is split into two factions, and when the workers arrive they find one side on strike while the other tries to assert control. Demanding a meeting with Braun, the group makes it clear that unless they toe the line they’re out. Fred McAfee is expelled from the union, allegedly because his dues are not up to date, a move that quickly raises more questions than answers.

Factory workers and friends Bill Gibson and Fred McAfee witness Wetzel meeting Braun shortly after the crime, a detail that unsettles them. Braun Testifies in Senate proceedings and invokes the Fifth Amendment, vehemently denying any knowledge of the mob enforcer, yet the perjury charge looming over him makes Gibson and McAfee potential liabilities if they testify.

Braun responds with intimidation, launching a campaign against the two men: they’re harassed at work and fired on false grounds. Fred McAfee is set afire and nearly dies from the burns, while Gibson and his wife Mary watch as their son Timmy is taken captive, turning a private dispute into a public crisis.

Gibson, aided by persistence and the authorities, retraces the route to a hideout where Timmy is being held. After a desperate struggle with Wetzel and his accomplices, the search narrows to Braun, who remains elusive until a small clue—a burning cigar in an ashtray—gives him away. Braun is found cowering in a closet with the boy and is dragged off to jail, bringing a tense chapter to a close.