Oliver Pope is an office manager who is nervous and distracted; his mind is not on his driving. As a result, he slams his 1956 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan into Timmy Danbers, a young boy delivering newspapers on a bicycle, injuring him seriously enough that the boy eventually dies of his injuries. Pope stops but then, instead of offering aid, hurries off, trying to conceal his part in the accident. His wife Lillian and his co-workers notice that he is increasingly irritable. A co-worker named Pete Radcliff is inaccurately identified as the perpetrator by a witness and Pope does nothing to change that error. Before long, Pope's car seems to take on a mind of its own, rebelling against its owner. At first, when Ollie is near the car, it honks its horn, flashes its lights, attempts to start on its own, drops its bumper, tries to close its hood on him, and repeats the radio newsflash of the boy's death in an attempt to get Ollie's attention. Then, while his wife is driving the car, it drives to the scene of the accident and stalls out, seemingly determined to get Pope to admit his guilt. Pope makes excuses to his wife and continues trying to cover up his crime. Pope starts walking to work in an effort to avoid his car. One day, he heads out into the rain and the Fairlane leaves the garage on its own, chasing him relentlessly along the street. Finally, Pope falls, but the car stops just before running him down. The passenger door opens, and Pope gets in. The Fairlane drives him to a police station, and Pope gets out and walks in to confess.
External shots of Pope's home and the park were filmed in a Culver City, California, neighborhood. The house that served as Pope's home still stands at 4183 Keystone Avenue and the nearby park where the accident took place is the Dr. Paul CarlsonMemorial Park. It is located a few blocks from the Sony Pictures lot. The scenes where Pope is chased by his car were filmed on Jasmine Avenue. The home at 4262 has since been replaced. However, the adjoining yard that he runs through are still there and readily identifiable. Edward Andrews refused to appear in the scene where Oliver Pope is almost run over by his car. His stand-in was actually "pinned" underneath the front tire. When Mrs. Pope calls the tow truck operator from a phone booth, she says her car is at the intersection of 3rd and Park. When Mr. Pope hears the late news report from his car radio, the newscaster says the accident took place at 3rd and Elm.
