"Before literally kicking the bucket when his car careens over an embankment, "Smiler" Grogan (Jimmy Durante) tells onlookers he's stashed $350,000 in stolen loot beneath "the big W" in the town of Santa Rosita … and thus begins a mad dash to recover the dough. But unbeknownst to the greedy motorists, police captain T.G. Culpepper (Spencer Tracy) -- who's been awaiting a break in the Grogan case for 20 years -- is stalking their every move. "