On New Year's Eve 1938 in bustling New York City, a chance encounter sets the stage for a thrilling tale of crime, deception, and daring escapes. The story begins when Billy Cooper, a seasoned lawyer [/<slug>], notices a distressed English showgirl, Jennie Carr [/<slug>] — played by Anna Lee — sitting alone in a restaurant, eyeing other diners' food with hunger. Sympathetic to her plight, Billy offers to buy her a meal, but unfortunately, the restaurant is completely out of food. Instead, he invites her back to his apartment, unaware that this decision will intertwine their destinies.
Before Billy and Jennie arrive, another desperate character, Henry Abel [/<slug>], an unemployed man also suffering from hunger, sneaks into Billy's apartment through the door, aiming for a chicken leg. Hearing the commotion, Abel quickly hides in a bedroom to avoid suspicion. When Jennie enters to remove her coat, she encounters Abel, who pleads with her not to cause trouble. Moved by his predicament, Jennie chooses to remain silent about his presence, sensing perhaps that her own troubles are only beginning.
Their quiet moment is shattered when Hugo Brant, a menacing gangster [/<slug>], and his henchmen burst into the apartment. They order Jennie to leave immediately, but things take a deadly turn when Billy, revealing plans to quit Brant’s criminal operations, is shot dead on the spot by Hugo Brant. In the chaos that follows, Brant decides to eliminate any loose ends, dispatching Jennie under the pretense of sending her aboard an ocean liner bound for Southampton, accompanied by his loyal sidekick, Harrigan. To cover his tracks further, Brant frames Jennie for a robbery she didn’t commit, setting her on a perilous path of suspicion and danger.
Meanwhile, Abel, having been caught trying to leave the apartment, faces trial and is sentenced to death for Billy Cooper's murder. His desperate hope that the woman who could clear his name exists only in the prison where she is held, unaware of his plight. As Brant and his gang, including Mortimer, journey to England to deal with Jennie, her fate hangs in the balance.
Upon her release from prison for the non-existent robbery, Jennie is introduced to her new landlord, a priest named Mr. Mortimer [/<slug>], who warns her about the perils she faces. Despite his advice, she learns of Abel’s impending execution from the newspapers and, driven by a mixture of guilt and hope, makes her way to Scotland Yard. There, she encounters Inspector Jim Grant [/<slug>], whose skepticism about her story gradually shifts to belief, especially after Miss Harvey and other women claiming to be witnesses appear, only to be discredited by Mortimer and her own inconsistent stories.
The plot thickens when Hugo Brant, secretly adopting the alias "General Costello" — a supposed Paraguayan dictator — receives a message about the unfolding events. His associate, Spurgeon, secretly sells torn-up pieces of the message to a blackmailer, Sam Pryor. Pryor, eager to blackmail Brant or Costello, sets his sights on flying to New York, sensing an opportunity for profit.
With the clock ticking and little money for an overseas journey, Jennie secretly boards the Atlantic Airlines "Lisbon Clipper", a formidable transatlantic flying boat filled with an eclectic group of passengers. Among them are Brant (Costello), young Arnold James, a 14-year-old violin prodigy [/<slug>], and his Aunt Veronica [/<slug>], the blackmailer Sam Pryor, and Inspector Grant. Jennie finds an empty compartment, which turns out to be Grant’s, and, while he considers what to do, the plane takes off, leaving her in a tense situation.
As the aircraft soars across the ocean, Pryor attempts to blackmail Costello into revealing his secrets. Costello, calm and cunning, bluffs Pryor into backing off, but Pryor soon learns from Jennie her connection to Inspector Grant and suspects her involvement in Billy Cooper’s murder. When Jennie recounts that a murderer could ignite a match with ease — reminiscent of a scene involving Costello — the tension escalates.
Late into the flight, Jennie and Costello find themselves alone in the lounge, where he manipulates her into walking out onto the open-air balcony. His plan is to push her overboard, but Pryor, overhearing the plot, now has leverage. He demands a ransom of £20,000, threatening to reveal critical secrets if his demands are not met. Costello steals an opportunity and, instead of complying, shoots Pryor dead in a dramatic confrontation, with Arnold witnessing the entire event.
The chaos intensifies when Costello attempts to silence Jennie by strangulation. Hearing her screams, Inspector Grant bursts into the scene, only to be held at gunpoint by Costello himself. Amidst the turmoil, Arnold, using a piece of the parachute tied to his saxophone, signals Grant and provides vital clues. Costello then makes a daring escape by grabbing Aunt Veronica’s parachute, shooting the pilot, and jumping out of the plane into the night sky. Grant manages to reach the cockpit, restore control of the aircraft, and save everyone from disaster.
In the aftermath, Grant coordinates a police cordon to apprehend Costello. Meanwhile, Arnold, somewhat sheepishly, admits he had used part of the parachute to muffle his saxophone, adding a layer of unintended comic relief to the tense and action-packed climax. The story culminates in an unforgettable display of courage and quick thinking amid a backdrop of crime, deceit, and high-stakes adventure over the Atlantic Ocean.
