***SPOILERS*** Fishing boat Captain Harry Morgan, John Garfield, reaches his breaking point when all the pressures of keeping his prized possession-his boat-drive him to commit a robbery at the Santa Anita Racetrack. After being involved in a Chinese smuggling operation in order to be able to get back to the US from Mexico after his two fishing customers Hannagan & his moll Lona Charles, Ralph Dumke & Patrica Neal, stiffed him Capt.Morgan, or Cappy as he likes to be called, ends up killing his pre arranged, on his boat, contact Mr. Sing, Victor Sin Yung. That's after Mr. Sing pulled a piece, or gun, on Cappy when he refused to pay him his shipping free or $200.00 a head for each of smuggled 8 Chinamen that he promised Sing to sneak into the USA.
Now back in L.A with a possible murder rap, the killing of Mr. Sing, facing him the dispossession of his fishing boat for non payments is the very last thing that Cappy has to worry about. It's the sleazy and oily F.R Duncan, Wallace Ford ,who got Cappy involved with Mr. Sing & the 8 Chinamen who's now blackmails him into getting involved in a race track robbery planned by the notorious Danny & his Boys headed by Danny, Guy Thomajan, himself. Danny wants Cappy ,on his fishing boat, to be the gangs getaway driver after the robbery is pulled off. What's even worse if that's at all possible is that Cappy's old lady Lucy, Phyllis Thaxter, is threatening to leave him an take the kids along with her if he doesn't stop running around with the blond & sexy Lona who in fact Cappy really has no interest in! Lucy gets so jealous of Lona and her supposed attraction to her hubby Cappy Morgan that she dyes her dark hair blond, to the shock and dislike of her two young daughters, just to impress him!
Painting himself into a corner Cappy reluctantly goes along with Danny & his Boys plans to knock off the race track but has an ace, or a pair of .38's, up his sleeve if anything goes wrong. Like Danny knocking him off when he gets the job done by sailing him and his boys to the safety of Catalina island. As for the that lowlife and back stabbing F.R Duncan he gets his at the race track when trying to outrun the police and make it together with Danny a& Co. to the L.A pier he's shot in the back by racetrack security guards. That all happens while Duncan offers no resistance to the cops or security guards who shot him! Which is a big was a no-no to the then Hayes Commission, a good guy never shoots a bad guy in the back, back in those days but in him being the slime-ball that he was the Hayes Commission must have overlooked it.
***SPOILER*** wild shoot-out on Cappy's boat the "Sea Queen" by Danny & the Boys after they offed Cappy's first mate and good friend Wesley Park, Juano Hernamdez, and left him there to rot before dumping him, with Cappy's help, into the Pacific Ocean. Cappy knowing that his fate would be the same as Wesley's got his chance,in checking the boats motor,to pull out his hidden .38's and blow the whole murderous bunch,Danny & the Boys, away. But not after being plugged a good number of times himself by them that in the end Cappy had to have his right, and good, arm amputated in order for him to survive! Survive to start a new life as the manager at his wife Lucy's brother's lettuce farm outside Salinas California.
P.S Very emotional scene at the very end of the movie when we see a distraught confused and worried young Joseph Park, Juan Hernandez, all alone on the pier as all the attention swirls around Cappy in his heroic acts in the movie. No one and I mean no one bothered to tell Joseph the fate of his dad Westly who was shot and thrown overboard by Danny & the Boys. But on second thought since Joseph's dad was deep sixth and by then very probably shark bait no one on shore really knew what happened to him.
Now back in L.A with a possible murder rap, the killing of Mr. Sing, facing him the dispossession of his fishing boat for non payments is the very last thing that Cappy has to worry about. It's the sleazy and oily F.R Duncan, Wallace Ford ,who got Cappy involved with Mr. Sing & the 8 Chinamen who's now blackmails him into getting involved in a race track robbery planned by the notorious Danny & his Boys headed by Danny, Guy Thomajan, himself. Danny wants Cappy ,on his fishing boat, to be the gangs getaway driver after the robbery is pulled off. What's even worse if that's at all possible is that Cappy's old lady Lucy, Phyllis Thaxter, is threatening to leave him an take the kids along with her if he doesn't stop running around with the blond & sexy Lona who in fact Cappy really has no interest in! Lucy gets so jealous of Lona and her supposed attraction to her hubby Cappy Morgan that she dyes her dark hair blond, to the shock and dislike of her two young daughters, just to impress him!
Painting himself into a corner Cappy reluctantly goes along with Danny & his Boys plans to knock off the race track but has an ace, or a pair of .38's, up his sleeve if anything goes wrong. Like Danny knocking him off when he gets the job done by sailing him and his boys to the safety of Catalina island. As for the that lowlife and back stabbing F.R Duncan he gets his at the race track when trying to outrun the police and make it together with Danny a& Co. to the L.A pier he's shot in the back by racetrack security guards. That all happens while Duncan offers no resistance to the cops or security guards who shot him! Which is a big was a no-no to the then Hayes Commission, a good guy never shoots a bad guy in the back, back in those days but in him being the slime-ball that he was the Hayes Commission must have overlooked it.
***SPOILER*** wild shoot-out on Cappy's boat the "Sea Queen" by Danny & the Boys after they offed Cappy's first mate and good friend Wesley Park, Juano Hernamdez, and left him there to rot before dumping him, with Cappy's help, into the Pacific Ocean. Cappy knowing that his fate would be the same as Wesley's got his chance,in checking the boats motor,to pull out his hidden .38's and blow the whole murderous bunch,Danny & the Boys, away. But not after being plugged a good number of times himself by them that in the end Cappy had to have his right, and good, arm amputated in order for him to survive! Survive to start a new life as the manager at his wife Lucy's brother's lettuce farm outside Salinas California.
P.S Very emotional scene at the very end of the movie when we see a distraught confused and worried young Joseph Park, Juan Hernandez, all alone on the pier as all the attention swirls around Cappy in his heroic acts in the movie. No one and I mean no one bothered to tell Joseph the fate of his dad Westly who was shot and thrown overboard by Danny & the Boys. But on second thought since Joseph's dad was deep sixth and by then very probably shark bait no one on shore really knew what happened to him.