Nightclub singer Della Mason (Judith Allen)witnesses a murder and is forced by the killer to flee with him from the scene of the crime. Escaping from the gangster, she secretly boards the ship of Captain Josiah Storm (Harry Carey), a woman-hater, and the ship sails from San Francisco headed for China. Della is discovered by Jim Benton (Milburn Stone, the ship's first mate and he pleads her case to the captain. He leaves her in under the protection of Minnie (Jane Jones)at "Minnie's Joint in Shanghai, until her innocence can be established.