Hong Kong Confidential

American intelligence agents from around the world gather in Washington, D.C. after an attempted Communist takeover of a small Middle Eastern country is put down by its leader, King Faid. In order to prevent Faid's intention to allow the installation of a U.S. missile base in his realm, the king's son, Prince Abdul, is abducted by Communist forces and the king is given two weeks to halt construction of the base. Certain that the prince is being held in a non-Eastern block country to avoid a propaganda scandal, U.S. intelligence officers focus their search for Abdul in the Far East. Hong Kong Intelligence chief Dan Young assigns agent Casey Reed to the case. Casey's cover is a corrupt night club singer partnered with pianist Fay Wells, who remains unaware of Casey's real identity. Soon after receiving the assignment, Casey is contacted at the club by Dennis Brooks, who offers him information on the kidnapping in exchange for money. On the way to their rendezvous in an alley behind the club, however, Brooks is knifed to death by an assailant whom Casey is unable to catch before he kills himself. Later, Dan identifies Brooks as a British spy connected with the notorious Elena Martine, who works in Macao with a gold smuggling syndicate. Dan then orders Casey to Macao, thus upsetting Fay when Casey reveals he must temporarily break up their act. Casey is accompanied to Macao by British agent John Blanchard. After several days of searching for Elena, Casey asks for her at the Club Jikki and is taken to the club's owner-manager, Mr. Chung. Casey tells Chung that he learned of a possible gold smuggling opportunity from Brooks before his death and was advised to contact Elena. Chung takes Casey to see Elena at her lush apartment, where Casey proposes that gold disguised as tourist trinkets could be smuggled into Communist Red China by way of Hong Kong, where he has a customs contact. After Elena and Chung approve of the plan, Casey is taken to Owen Howard, the syndicate head and liquor exporter. Howard agrees with Casey's plan, but orders him to transport the first shipment to insure its success personally. While awaiting preparation of the shipment, Howard arranges for Casey to sing at the Club Jikki as cover. Casey secretly meets with John and asks for information on Howard, but admits the gold-smuggling ring does not appear connected with Abdul's abduction. That night, however, John provides Casey with his report on Howard, which reveals that the exporter has traveled extensively and spent time in several countries just before they fell to the Communists. Later, Casey investigates Howard's dock warehouses, and in the business office discovers a distinctive medallion taped to the bottom of the desk drawer. When Casey returns to his hotel he is surprised to find Fay waiting for him. She explains that she was brought from Hong Kong by Chung to join Casey at the Jikki. Later, Elena tells Casey that Fay will be held in Macao to insure his return from Hong Kong after safely transporting the gold. Meanwhile, Howard and Chung discover the medallion in the warehouse is missing and shortly thereafter, Howard learns of John's investigation. Having returned to Hong Kong, John telephones Casey to inform him that Dan suspects that the pendant may have belonged to Prince Abdul. A short time later, Casey arrives in Hong Kong with Howard's gold and clandestinely passes John the medallion, but John is grabbed by Howard's men before he can get to Dan. Upon realizing that John is missing, Dan orders Casey to return to Macao, where he finds Fay with Frank Paige, an American defense worker, who has admired her for a long time. Chung summons Casey for a meeting where he finds Howard and John. John claims to be Casey's silent partner in the gold deal and insists he took the medallion believing it was one of the gold trinkets. Howard reveals that John is a British agent and orders Casey to kill him, but when Casey hesitates, John bolts and is killed by one of Howard's men. As the two-week deadline approaches for Faid to agree to meet with Russian representatives, Howard convenes with Communist heads Yussef and Linov to complete their part to overthrow Faid. Howard, who has been holding Abdul, intends to kill the prince and place the blame on Casey, implying that the West arranged the abduction to put political pressure on Faid. When Dan contacts Casey with the information that Faid will sign a missile agreement with the Russians if Abdul is not returned by midnight, Casey asks that Fay be protected. Later, Dan visits Fay at her hotel and is introduced to Frank. On a sudden hunch Dan re-examines newsreel footage and puts out an information search on Frank's identification. Meanwhile, Elena summons Casey to the warehouse, where she takes him at gunpoint to Howard and his men. Howard brings out the young prince, unharmed, just as Fay telephones to reveal that she is also being held by Howard's men. Howard then explains his intention to kill both Casey and Abdul once he has received confirmation of Faid's signing with the Russians after midnight. Without Howard's knowledge, Casey sabotages the phone and when Howard leaves the warehouse to investigate, Casey quickly overpowers Elena, shoots the guards and flees with Abdul to the hotel. There, Casey bursts into Fay's room, killing Chung, who is guarding her. Dan arrives with a backup of agents and arrests Frank, who Dan has discovered is a top Communist spy, planted early by the Russians in Faid's entourage. Dan then reveals that he informed Faid of the connection, preventing an agreement with the Russians. With the return of Abdul, Faid returns to his original approval of the American missile base, maintaining a fragile political stability in the Middle East.