Captain Rick Leland is court-martialed on Governor's Island on November 17, 1941, and discharged from the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps after being caught stealing. He tries to join the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, but his bid is coldly refused. With a restless sense of purpose, he boards the Genoa Maru, a Japanese liner sailing from Halifax to Yokohama via the Panama Canal and Hawaii, ostensibly bound for China to fight for Chiang Kai-shek.
On board, he encounters Alberta Marlow, who claims to be from Medicine Hat, and a light, unfolding romance begins between them. The other passengers include Dr. Lorenz, a sociology professor who admires Japan and is therefore unpopular in the Philippines where he resides, and his loyal servant T. Oki. Leland reveals a mercenary streak: he will fight for anyone who can pay him enough, a grim calculus that keeps those around him guessing.
During a stop in New York City, Leland is exposed as a secret agent when he reports to Colonel Hart, an undercover Army Intelligence officer. Lorenz is known to be an enemy spy, but Hart and Leland remain uncertain about Alberta Marlow. Hart also warns them to watch for a Japanese criminal, Joe Totsuiko. Returning to the ship, Leland foils an assassination attempt on Lorenz by a Filipino killer; he gains Lorenz’s confidence by remaining indifferent when the killer is killed. The boarding of a second man as T. Oki reveals that one of the passengers is a disguised Japanese prince who will play a pivotal role.
Lorenz pays Leland in advance for up-to-date air-patrol timetables, critical for the enemy’s plans. In Panama, Captain Morrison announces that Japanese ships must detour around Cape Horn, and the trio—Leland, Marlow, and Lorenz—await another vessel at Sam’s hotel. Crates addressed to Dan Morton of Bountiful Plantation are unloaded, signaling a new lead. Lorenz presses for accurate schedules, knowing that Lorenz would detect fake ones. Smith, the late informant, had indicated Morton is a wealthy dipsomaniac and that Marlow is a buyer for Rogers Fifth Avenue in New York City.
Leland is violently beaten, but recovers and calls Smith, warning him to alter the patrol schedule. Smith is killed soon after Leland’s call. Lorenz and Marlow vanish from sight. Sam dispatches Leland to a cinema, where a man whispers a dying clue: “Go Bountiful Plantation…” Later, at the plantation, Leland spots a torpedo-bomber being prepared for launch. He is captured and taken to Lorenz, where the stakes are raised by the appearance of Joe Totsuiko, T. Oki, and Morton, along with Alberta’s father, a plantation owner whose weakness has been exploited by enemy agents.
Lorenz unveils that A. V. Smith is dead, removed so the prince can destroy the Panama Canal locks without interference. The real T. Oki and Totsuiko play their roles, and Morton’s fate underscores the personal stakes—Alberta’s hope for her father’s welfare depends on the outcome. When Morton staggers, Totsuiko shoots him, but that move allows Leland to overpower Totsuiko. Grabbing a machine gun, Leland guns down the bomber as it attempts to take off and eliminates Lorenz’s henchmen.
Inside the house, Lorenz attempts seppuku, but his nerve fails him. He begs Leland to finish him, but Leland refuses with a vow that echoes through the final act: > "has a date with Army Intelligence." The battle ends as Leland and Marlow clasp hands, watching the sky fill with American planes that signal a hard-won victory and the beginning of a safer return home.
- The film blends espionage, moral ambiguity, and wartime urgency to build a tense, globe-spanning spy thriller. The characters’ loyalties shift as danger closes in, and the turning point at the plantation crystallizes the cost of deception and the price of national service. The grim humor and hard-edged confidence of Leland, contrasted with Lorenz’s chilling ideology, drive a finale that leaves the audience with a clear sense of duty, sacrifice, and the urgent need for vigilance in the early days of global conflict.
