En plena fiebre del oro en San Francisco, un hombre llamado Bat Morgan acaba con la vida de un criminal que atemorizaba a toda la región. Gracias a su acción comienza a ganar importantes cuotas de poder dentro, aunque lo que verdaderamente le interesa es el amor por la joven Jean.

Incompetent door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesmen become enlisted without their knowledge.

After being shanghaied in a plot to have him declared dead and take over his ranchero and other properties, Don Ricardo, disguised as a peon, returns to Old California, and begins the fight to reclaim what is his.

In 1834, Charles Stewart (Alan Ladd), the spoiled, dissolute son of a shipping magnate, is shanghaied aboard the Pilgrim, one of his father's own ships. He embarks upon a long, hellish sea voyage under the tyrannical rule of Captain Francis Thompson (Howard Da Silva), assisted by his first mate, Amazeen (William Bendix). One of his crewmates is Richard Henry Dana Jr. (Brian Donlevy).