Van Johnson stars in a story about an ex-military pilot hired by a deep-sea treasure hunter who has no intention of sharing his discovery with anyone.
The opening lines preview the conclusion of the story (mild spoiler alert). Johnson’s character, Danny, talks about lighting a cigarette with a piece of paper worth $400,000. That’s $5.3 million in US$2024!
Danny learns about the job from an ex-girlfriend. She recently broke off their relationship to marry an older and wealthier man, but he’s dreadfully annoying and a bully. She is already sick of her marriage. She persuaded him to hire Danny for his latest treasure hunting expedition. He is convinced that sunken Spanish galleons filled with gold are still at the bottom of the Caribbean. He may be looking for riches, but she hopes to get something different. She wants the trip to provide an opportunity to get the husband out of the way... permanently.
The pilot is needed to scout possible search sites as it travels low to the water, ahead of the salvage ship. The plane is stored aboard ship until the suspected treasure area is reached. Early in the voyage, it becomes apparent that they are sailing in the wrong direction and that the diving equipment is obsolete and worthless. This is on purpose. The husband said one thing to convince people to join the expedition, concealed his real plans, and his greed leads him to ensure that those on the project may not survive the trip. This would keep his riches secret and allow him to avoid legal and taxation authorities, and live life of great luxury. The story takes a really dark turn when he kills a crewmember in cold blood. It get even stranger when the wife admits to the pilot that she wasn’t interested in rekindling their relationship, but she planned to run away with the dead crewmember. The husband has what he wants to keep everyone in line: crew and travelers are terrified of him and must comply with his demands and otherwise may not survive the journey.
Cary Grant was originally intended star. This is yet another planned date for the now twice-delayed Angel Face with Ginger Rogers.
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https://archive.org/details/TSP500406
THE CAST
VAN JOHNSON (Danny Connor), Georgia Ellis (Gloria), Joe Kearns (Wendell Davis / Signature Voice), Elliott Reid (Scotty), William Conrad (Freighter Captain), Gus Bayz (Ad-Libs)
COMMERCIAL: Jerry Hausner (Cab Driver), Harlow Wilcox (Announcer), Sylvia Simms (Operator)
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