Mutiny Ahead

Playboy Kent Brewster quits a lifelong gambling habit because he is finally completely broke; however, Dudley, a gambling den proprietor, demands that Kent pay the $35,000 owed to him by the following evening. Mimi, a chance acquaintance, introduces Kent to jewel thieves Barnes and Darby, who offer him $50,000 to steal the pearl necklace of socialite Mrs. Clayton Vanderpool at an upcoming costume ball. Kent refuses their offer, but the thieves threaten him with a gun, so Kent, dressed in a pirate suit, subsequently attends the ball. There he dances first with Mrs. Vanderpool and then with her niece, heiress Carol Bixby, whom he kisses impetuously before making off with the pearls. In the meantime, Barnes and Darby shoot and kill each other during an argument, which Mimi witnesses, and when she is later arrested, she reveals Kent's complicity in the theft of Mrs. Vanderpool's pearls. Regretting his actions, Kent sets off to return the necklace, but on the way, he is jumped by some rowdy sailors, and the pearls are stolen. Kent trails the sailors to the "Star of India," a luxurious ship docked in the harbor of San Pedro, and stows away on board; however, shortly after the ship has left the dock, Kent is discovered, and much to his surprise, he learns that the "Star of India" is owned by Carol's family and that she is on board, along with her cook Sassafras and Glory Bell, her maid. Knowing that Kent is wanted by the police, Carol decides to mete out her own punishment. She forces him to work in the galley, but during the cruise, he and Carol eventually become friends. This arouses the ire of the jealous and conniving first mate McMurtrie, who also danced with Carol at the costume ball. Meanwhile, Sassafras, who has been gambling with the sailors on board, wins the pearl necklace in a dice game and presents it to Glory Bell, with whom he is infatuated. The "Star of India" finally reaches its destination, the site of a sunken ship on which Martin, the captain of Carol's yacht, had been first mate twenty years before when it went down with a shipment of gold bullion on board. One of McMurtrie's cohorts, a sailor named Wheeler, dives in first in order to examine the wreck. He maliciously fails to warn Captain Martin of the presence of a giant octopus nearby, and when Martin takes his place underwater, he is caught in the grip of its powerful tentacles. Kent dives into the water to save Martin and kills the octupus, then he and Martin recover the sunken treasure. Later, a group of disgruntled sailors, led by McMurtrie, decide to mutiny in order to obtain the gold and attempt to set the ship on fire. Kent courageously intervenes and single-handedly prevents the mutiny and saves the ship from destruction. A grateful Carol admits that she has been "sweet on" Kent since she danced with him at the costume ball and reveals that the stolen "pearls" were in fact fakes, as the real set is tucked away safely in the family vault. Kent, now reformed of his gambling habit, professes his love for Carol, and the happy couple then set sail for home.