One of the more peculiar items on John Wayne's CV, this Second World War adventure sees him play a German sea captain. However, the real villain of the piece is first mate Lyle Bettger, whose murder of some defenceless fishermen prompts British naval officer David Farrar to pursue Wayne's freighter across the Pacific. Director John Farrow adopts a no-nonsense approach, but Wayne's dalliance with sultry passenger Lana Turner is too often allowed to slow up the action. However, the shark attack and the final battle are briskly staged and the rivalry between the Duke and Farrar gives the picture a little extra edge.

As the Second World War breaks out, German freighter captain Karl Ehrlich is about to leave Sydney, Australia with his vessel, the Ergenstrasse. Ehrlich, an anti-Nazi but proud German, hopes to outrun or out-maneuver the British warship pursuing him. Aboard his vessel is Elsa Keller, a woman Ehrlich has been ordered to return to Germany safely along with whatever secrets she carries. When Ehrlich's fiercely Nazi chief officer Kirchner commits an atrocity, the British pursuit becomes deadly.