Gibb McLaughlin is a Chinese gentleman who is the biggest charterer of ships of the firm that Frances Cuyler works for. He has just arranged to charter the ship on which Tony Wylde is the first officer; Wylde is also the intended of Miss Cuyler. McLaughlin is not shipping ordinary goods, but "contraband"; he has arranged to kidnap Miss Cuyler for his own nefarious plans, and he has working for him Julie Suedo, who has wed a rich Dutch gentleman, whom McLaughlin will arrange the death of. Miss Suedo will turn over half the fortune she will inherit so China can be free; and she will get Wylde, whom she has been eying all through the voyage to England.
In other words, it's a Fu Manchu story with the serial numbers rubbed off so no royalties need be paid to Sax Rohmer. It's a well-plotted and tight story, and if the "yellow peril" seems outdated, this was a British silent movie issued in 1930, so that was going out of fashion too. For those who like such things, there are plenty of murders, sliding panels, lovely ladies, and villains who make a reasonable case for their villainies, at first anyway.
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